


The Brother's Ri

by beargirl1393



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Gen, M/M, Minor Original Character(s), Mpreg, Teen Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-24
Updated: 2020-11-08
Packaged: 2021-02-25 20:41:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 35,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21551653
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beargirl1393/pseuds/beargirl1393
Summary: Dori fussed too much. That was something Nori had known, and disliked, about his brother for as long as he could remember. When he finally set off on his own, he counted it as a blessing that he was away from all of that. Or so he said, but that didn't change the fact that, when he became pregnant at a young age, Dori was the only person Nori trusted to help him out of the mess. After all, what was family for? And the Ri brothers were nothing if not loyal to their family.
Relationships: Balin/Dori (Tolkien), Bilbo Baggins/Dwalin (implied), Bofur/Nori (Tolkien)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 44





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for Nano back in 2016, and somehow I forgot to post it until now. Since it's completed, I'm going to upload a chapter once a week, on Saturdays or Sundays, so that I'll be able to look over the chapters for errors and things. This is originally from a prompt on the kinkmeme, but I can't remember who it was for anymore. The original prompt was: Nori (or fem!Nori) had the Dwarf equivalent of a teen pregnancy and Ori was the result. He and Dori never told Ori, instead letting him believe he belonged to their mother. Just...something with that idea. I'm up for anything.

Dori swirled warm water into his teapot, letting it soak into the leaves and breathing into the aroma. One of his favorite ways to relax after a long day was to make a pot of tea and sit down with a good book or a new project. He enjoyed knitting, weaving, and various other handicrafts, which was likely why he had gotten a job in a small craft shop. The town of men where he lived was small, but the shop did good business and so he was paid fairly well. It had been difficult, after Nori had left, but he and their mother had done their best. It had been worse when she passed on, leaving Dori entirely alone.

The first year after Nori left had been the hardest. Dori would work during the day and care for their mother all night. When Nori had been with them, his brother would take some of the shifts, to allow Dori to rest before work, but he hadn’t had that luxury after Nori left. He would get up to go to work and not be able to go to bed until late each night, as he had to tend to the house as well as their mother’s health.

It had been difficult, but Dori would gladly take that year back rather than the year following it, when their mother had slipped away more and more and eventually had passed beyond the help of any healer. Truthfully, Dori didn’t even know if Nori knew their mother was alive. He didn’t know if _Nori_ was alive, and that thought hurt even worse. His father had run off before he was born, just as Nori’s father had, so Nori and their mother had been the only family he had left. Anyone else had perished when Erebor fell, before he had been born, and so he was extremely loyal to the small family he had left.

Still, Dori mused, sitting down with his tea and his latest craft project, at least Nori was likely happier wherever he was than he would be here. Nori had always had a restless spirit, never satisfied with their home or willing to settle down and choose a craft yet. He claimed to be too young for such things and as he had only been twenty-seven when he left, it hadn’t truly surprised Dori. Nori would be thirty now, if he was still alive. Just a teenager, by their standards.

He did wonder what was happening to Nori, where he was and what he was getting into. If he was safe, warm, had enough to eat and somewhere dry to sleep…none of those things were guaranteed, but he still could hope. As much as Nori had always frustrated him and as angry as he’d been when Nori left, he still wished that his brother had the life he wished for, whatever that may be. And, with more foresight that Nori himself possessed, he hoped that what his brother wished for wouldn’t end up hurting him.

* * *

Meanwhile, in a small room above a tavern, miles away from where Dori lived, a ginger haired dwarf sat on a rather uncomfortable pallet, staring at the floor. Nori had changed a bit since his brother last saw him, starting to style his hair in three peaks rather than braiding it how it had been for most of his life, when Dori tended to his hair. It was one of the first things that he’d changed when he left home, not wanting to have any uncomfortable reminders of home if he could help it.

He wasn’t always successful, sometimes he would just stop and wonder if their mother was doing any better, if Dori was managing to take care of her on his own. Maybe he should have stayed, at least to help out with their mother, but he’d been restless. He wasn’t meant for that kind of life, staying in the same place day after day, year after year, even decade after decade. He needed to be out, exploring new places or just finding new things in places he’d already been before. He could handle a few months at a time in one place, but after that he got too restless and had to move on.

Grimacing at that thought, Nori glanced at the parchments that the healer he’d found shoved at him. Pregnant. He was only thirty and he was pregnant. Of course, that may be a fine age for a human to have a baby, but in dwarven years that was only teenaged. He still had so many things he wanted to do, so many places he wanted to see. So many idiots he could fleece, since it was remarkably easy to learn how to turn his natural talents to less than legal ventures. There was still too much to do for him to settle down.

He couldn’t get rid of it, though. Even as much as Nori absolutely did not want a child, he also couldn’t take the steps that would lead to getting rid of it. Children were important to dwarves, they didn’t reproduce easily nor quickly, and getting rid of a child, accidental pregnancy or not, was almost unheard of among dwarves. Usually, if a dwarf or dwarrowdam were in this situation, they would go to whoever the head of the dwarves in that particular region was and ask for help finding a couple who wanted to take in the child. Nori couldn’t do that, he already had a less than stellar reputation and if anyone found out that he had a child…even if he gave the baby up, someone would try to get to it just to hurt him.

So, no, adoption was definitely out. Keeping it wasn’t an option Nori considered either, since he knew that children needed a lot of things he couldn’t give, namely stability and safety. Not all of his ventures were legal, and sometimes they weren’t always successful. He’d gone hungry a few times before, and he knew it was likely to happen again. He couldn’t take those kinds of risks with a baby, couldn’t force a kid to go hungry because their father made a bad decision.

But, he also couldn’t get rid of the baby, which meant that out of the three options he knew of, all three weren’t going to work for him. Nori knew that he had to figure something out, and soon. Whether or not he wanted this kid, it wasn’t just going to go away on it’s own. He had to find an option that he could live with, and soon. He was already a few months gone, and dwarves only carried for a year.

Nori suddenly missed his brother more than before. Dori would scold him, but he’d also fuss over him and try to help him. Their mother hadn’t been healthy for years now, and he was used to turning to Dori if he had any sort of problem. He and his brother fought nearly constantly, but he also knew that, if he ever needed Dori, the other dwarf would come through for him. Dori was fussy and too concerned about what people thought of him, but he also put his family before anything else.

He stared at the parchments for a long moment before getting up and stuffing them in his travel bag. They were promptly followed by clothes and whatever minimal possessions he carried with him. Nori had learned the value of traveling light quickly, and so packing to leave never took him more than a few moments. Haggling over how much he owed the tavern owner for his room took longer, but he came out ahead in that deal and left the man grumbling behind him as he headed out. He didn’t have a pony, and although Nori knew that he would be able to catch rides on carts from time to time, it was going to take him a few months to get back home.

* * *

Dori had one day each week purely to himself. Six days a week he would work in the shop, weaving tapestries to be sold, and he never complained. The work kept him busy and gave him enough coin to pay his bills and keep him fed, which was all that was necessary at the moment. It may not be his dream, but it was a good enough way to put aside coin for a rainy day and perhaps, one day, achieve his dream.

One day every week, however, he had off. He always spent part of the day doing mundane tasks, tidying up the house and going to the market, but the rest of the day was spent indulgently. He would go to the small training grounds that the town had, keeping his hand in with both sword and flail, then he would return home and have a soothing cup of tea. That would usually be followed by knitting or sewing, as making clothing was much more cost efficient than buying it and he was better than any of the tailors in the town when it came to dwarven clothing. He may indulge himself and have wine with his evening meal, and usually would go to bed later that night relaxed and refreshed for the week ahead.

That day, however, Dori had just gotten back from the market and was getting ready to change into his training clothes when there was a knock at his door. Although he scowled at the interruption, Dori went to answer the door. He couldn’t afford to irritate his boss if the man was indeed calling for him for whichever reason.

Instead of the tall, dark skinned man he worked for, however, Dori was greeted with the sight of his teenaged brother, standing on his doorstep in clothes that had certainly seen better days, with mussed hair and…a rounded abdomen. He needed to reach out and grasp the doorframe when he noticed that last detail.

“I need help, Dori,” Nori said, either not noticing or not caring about his elder brother’s shock.

“Yes, I can see that,” Dori managed, stepping aside and waving Nori in. He closed the door tightly behind Nori, and held up a hand when the other dwarf seemed to be preparing to speak. “Not a word until I’ve had tea, Nori.”

Nori actually managed to smile at that. Of course Dori wouldn’t do anything without having tea first. His eyes swept around the room, noting that it was clean but fairly bare. “Where’s Amad?” He noticed Dori’s sharp intake of breath, turning to face his brother, who was standing by the counter and frozen in the middle of preparing tea. “Dori, where is Amad?”


	2. Chapter 2

“So, Amad is dead and you’ve been here all alone,” Nori summed up. Dori had made tea for them both, and Nori actually drank it as he listened to his brother recount what had been up to for the past three years. Not much, apparently, if he was any judge. Caring for their mother and making her comfortable at the end, and then just working and keeping himself busy since then. Probably worrying too, since Dori would worry if he couldn’t find something to worry about. That thought made him snicker for a moment, before he refocused on the present, and the fact that his brother was staring at him.

“That is an adequate summary,” Dori said primly, once Nori refocused on him. He took a sip of his tea and debated the merits of bringing the matter up delicately. Ultimately, he decided against it, as delicacy had never been Nori’s forte, nor had he ever appreciated it. “I would like to know what you have been up to for the past three years, however, and how it led you to be desperate enough to seek out my help.” He also knew that Nori was repressing any feelings about their mother’s passing, he’d never been fond of letting another see him vulnerable, but Dori decided against probing in that matter. They were already going to have one difficult conversation, no need to compound it and make it so Nori decided against sharing anything at all.

“Well, I’m sure this will be shocking news, but I’m pregnant, Dori,” Nori said, ignoring his brother’s huff and muttered ‘you don’t say’ as he continued speaking. “Who it was doesn’t matter. Honestly, I’m not too sure I could pick out who it was. Another dwarf, I know that much, since I wasn’t sharing a bed with any men around that time.”

Fighting back his instinctive reaction, which would go something along the lines of ‘Nori, how could you be so careless?’, ‘Nori, why didn’t you brew your tea every month like I taught you?’, or ‘Nori, how can you not know who the father is?’, Dori eventually managed to ask, “What do you plan to do with the child?” He knew that Nori wasn’t going to get rid of the child, or else he would have done so before he was this far along. That was the extent of what he felt safe to predict, however, as Nori loved being unpredictable.

“I was hoping you or Amad would know,” Nori admitted, leaning back in his chair with a sigh. “More you than her.” Their mother had never been what one would call healthy, and so when he was growing up, Dori had done more to care for him than she had. Any problems he had, any questions, any trouble he got into (which was a lot)…it had always been Dori there, helping him out of whatever mess he was in. Of course, his brother also scolded him and they fought like cats and dogs, but whenever Nori needed help, Dori was always there for him. “I can’t just give him to a couple, Dori. Someone could want to hurt him to get to me. Don’t ask why, just…trust me on this.”

“And you will not remove the issue, but you also do not want to care for the child yourself?” Dori questioned, sighing when Nori nodded. He wanted, needed, to know why Nori thought that the child would be in danger with another, but he knew Nori wouldn’t answer and he preferred to fight one impossible battle at a time. “So, you need help deciding on what should be done with the child before it is born. When are you due?”

“Six months, give or take,” Nori said, shrugging loosely. He could be off by a month or so, but six months sounded about right. “I don’t want to just…settle down Dori, and you know I’d have to if I had a kid. I’d have to do everything I hate, everything I ran away from in the first place.” Monotony, every day the same as the one before. He couldn’t handle being stuck in a rut, he needed excitement, adventure, and the rush of adrenaline that always accompanied his best heists.

“True, if you had a child, you could hardly take off in the middle of the night,” Dori mused. Children needed stability, he knew, and at this point in his life, Nori would be unable to provide that. He would be unable to be a parent, although perhaps he could manage to be a fun uncle. Or…the fun brother. “What if you weren’t the one having the child, Nori?”

Nori looked from his rounded abdomen to Dori and back again. “Pretty late for that, don’t you think?” he asked sardonically. He was curious, however. That look on Dori’s face usually led to either spectacularly good ideas, or spectacularly bad ones.

Dori waved off that comment, sipping his tea meditatively while he thought. It just might work. It would be difficult, but there was every possibility that it would work. “What if you weren’t the one having the child, Nori?” he repeated. “What if Amad was?” Nori already seemed to have little enough problem leaving one brother, a second wouldn’t be seen as any different. Dori worked hard enough that he would be able to support himself and his ‘brother’, with or without Nori’s help. It was possible that it might work.

Nori was about to say that Dori had finally lost his mind, and that he’d known it would happen sooner or later, before the meaning of his brother’s words caught up to him. “You mean, lie about when she died, and claim this baby is our brother?” That was more devious than he’d ever given his brother credit for being, he was impressed despite himself. “Everyone here would know when Amad died, though. They’d never believe that she had a baby before she died and you kept it hidden for this long.” Especially since the baby would be a newborn and their mother had died two years ago. “We would have to move, go somewhere else.”

“Most of the dwarves of Erebor settled in the Blue Mountains,” Dori said, meeting his brother’s eyes levelly. “Amad told me, about how life was before the dragon came and how she believed that the king would be able to reclaim his birthright someday. She always wanted that, wanted to see Erebor again.” Even before Nori had left, he had always spent more time wandering than he had spent with his family. Dori was the one to hear their mother’s tales of Erebor, to hear the helpless, hopeless longing in her voice for that simpler time.

“You want to be there if he does decide to go after it, don’t you?” Nori asked, looking at his brother incredulously. Yes, Dori was strong and he was a well-trained fighter, but he was always so prim and proper…imagining him on a quest was laughable, and yet Nori could tell that Dori was completely serious. That…well, he honestly wasn’t sure how to deal with that information, so he shoved it aside for now. Not to be forgotten, of course, but he couldn’t handle the information now and had a lot more that he needed to focus on. “Alright, fine, Ered Luin it is. When?”

“After you have the baby, and it’s weaned,” Dori said practically, starting to tidy up the kitchen now that they were finished with their tea, dumping Nori’s untouched mug out before setting it with his own empty mug, to be washed momentarily. “By that point, it will be safe for both you and the baby to travel, and when we arrive in Ered Luin, there will be no sign that he is anything other than our youngest brother. We will need to lie about Amad’s death, the causes behind it and when it occurred, but none of those folk will look too deeply.”

Nori had to admit that Dori had a point. No one of Erebor had helped their mother before her death, so there was no reason to suspect that anyone would probe too deeply into the circumstances surrounding her death. The town Dori and their mother had stayed in was primarily inhabited by humans, dwarves would pass through occasionally but as they rarely stayed, there likely would be no one to contradict their story. “It might work,” he allowed. “But we’ll need to both agree on what our story is. All it would take is one person hearing us contradict each other and then it’d all be out.” That was the last thing he wanted, so they would have to make sure their cover was perfect before they left for the Blue Mountains.

“It will have to work, because it is the best plan that I can come up with,” Dori said simply, starting to wash the dishes with a soft sigh. “Regardless of how much we do plan, Nori, there is only so much we can do. This may still come out some day, the child may learn that you are it’s father, not it’s brother, and that I was an accomplice in the lie.” Because that was always the risk in lying, Dori thought, that the truth would come out in the end and then there would be trouble.

Nori shook his head. “I’m not it’s father,” he said firmly. “Doesn’t matter if I’m carrying the thing or not, I’m not it’s father. I don’t want to be a father, Dori, not now.” And yes, he knew that was the perfect opening for Dori to lecture him about not being safe, but he couldn’t help it. He had made a fairly stupid mistake and now they had a way to fix it. He didn’t want to think about anything else, about what would happen when the child was older. Right now, the baby was just an abstract to him, something that was there but not fully present. He wasn’t attached to it, because he didn’t know the child yet.

Dori shook his head, lips pursed in disapproval, but he didn’t say anything. He just continued washing up, doing the breakfast dishes as well as the ones from their impromptu tea, and after a few minutes Nori got up and moved to join him. It was the best way that he could think of to show Dori that he appreciated this, that even if he wouldn’t say it, he was truly thankful for Dori helping him through this. But, then again, he’d never really doubted Dori would. Family was always important to him.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the lack of update last week! I've been having computer problems, and only just now got them mostly resolved. To make up for the missing update last week, I'm going to post two chapters today.

Nori decided, fairly early on in his pregnancy, that the baby was nothing but trouble. It sent him to the privy at all hours, his gums had bled, and he had been alternately repulsed by food and knowing that he needed to eat because throwing up bile was getting old. Even once he passed that point, however, he still had to contend with weight gain, various aches, cravings for various foods...honestly, if he had known everything that he would have to go through, he would have been a lot better at remembering to make that tea as often as he should have.

He complained, loudly, in the beginning, but that tapered off a bit once he saw how much his brother was working. With his center of gravity off, Nori wasn't as sneaky as he usually was, and a pregnant male wandering around a town of men was more noticeable than it would be in a dwarven settlement. Combining the two meant that Nori wasn't able to continue in his new line of work, and given that he wasn't able to find a job with the men because of his state, Dori's job provided the sole income for them both.

Dori still had his job as a weaver, but he had also picked up another job. With his strength, he had found a job in a tavern. Ostensibly he was there to mix drinks, but Nori knew that the reason he had been hired was so that when the men got rowdy, there was someone to break up the fights and toss the troublemakers out. The men were over a head taller than him, but Dori was stronger than them and better versed in fighting, so Nori wasn't worried about his brother's safety. What he did worry about was his brother exhausting himself.

When he had first come to stay with Dori, Nori had planned to find an ordinary job to do until after the baby was born. He had known even then that he wouldn't be able to work as a thief in his current condition, nor would he be able to rig card or dice games because he would be too noticeable. What he hadn't counted on was every shop refusing to hire him because of the fact that he was pregnant. Evidently men, at least in that town, believed that their females could not work, especially not when they were pregnant. Unfortunately for Nori, as male humans couldn't get pregnant, every shop owner believed that he was female and so turned him away.

That had been the point where Dori took the second job at the tavern, as he worried about not having enough money for food, especially since some of Nori's cravings were costly, as well as needing to buy things for the baby. Of course, Dori was also knitting up a storm, making clothes and toys out of yarn for the baby, but they needed other things, as well as money to pay the healers when the time came to deliver the child.

Nori understood, and he didn't really blame Dori, but it also hurt to see his brother so exhausted, getting up early in the morning to go to his shift at the weaving shop and returning late every evening after his shift at the tavern. Nori did what he could, as although he balked at being limited to housework and cooking, it was something that he was able to do to kill time as well as to keep Dori from having even more work to do. His sewing was terrible, but his attempts at least got a smile from his brother, and at least he was a passable cook.

On Dori's day off, Nori would sit with his brother, both of them working on things for the baby. Their family had always been weavers and tailors, after all, so those skills had been taught to him by Dori when they were both still children. Then, it was a game, making little things that would make his mother or brother laugh, but now it was wholly practical, saving their coin for when they would need it rather than wasting it on overpriced clothing.

Still, watching Dori sit and knit one evening, nearly nodding off over his knitting needles, Nori felt guilty enough to speak up. "I shouldn't have come back."

That was enough to jerk Dori out of his doze, and he looked at his brother with wide eyes. "What in the Maker's name are you talking about, Nori?"

"I shouldn't have come back, I shouldn't have dumped this problem on you," Nori elaborated. "Look at you, you're dozing off over your knitting like an old gaffer. Granted, you do dress like one..."

Dori rolled his eyes, turning his attention back to his knitting. "This is only temporary, Nori. Yes, it is difficult, but no one ever said that having a child is easy. Once the babe is born and we are among dwarves again, then we will both be able to work and I won't be so tired. But I would rather have to work in taverns constantly than have you attempting to deal with this on your own. A support system is necessary for caring for a child."

Nori wanted to refute that last point, as Dori had barely any support and he had managed to raise Nori himself, but he kept that to himself. Contrary to popular opinion, he did have tact occasionally. "I still think that you should work less, and worry less. I know asking for the latter is pointless, however."

Dori rolled his eyes, setting his current project, a nearly finish hat small enough that Nori couldn't believe that it would actually fit the dwarfling once it was born, aside so that he could stand. "Just for that, you are having tea," he said, smirking at Nori's expression of disgust. His younger brother had never been fond of tea in general, despite Dori's many and varied attempts to make him see how good it tastes.

"You're a cruel dwarf and I'm embarrassed to know you," Nori retorted, going back to his own project. He was always better with sewing than with knitting, so he was working on outfits for the child and leaving the socks, hats, sweaters, and assorted knitwear to Dori. "I can't wait until this babe is born and I can have an ale again."

That was one of the things that he missed the most, if he was honest. Not being able to have fish, he could handle, as well as the few other foods that had been off limits to him in the beginning, but he had missed ale, pipes, and most of all, his chosen profession. Dori was still mostly in the dark about what Nori had done, and if the younger dwarf had any say in it, his elder brother would never find out. He had already gotten a lecture about not remembering to drink his tea, he didn't want to know what his elder brother would do if he found out that the other father was a thief, older and more experienced than Nori himself was in the trade. Nori had never even seen the other dwarf again after that night, not that he wished to. At least, Nori thought that dwarf was the other father, he hadn’t been lying when he’d told Dori that narrowing it down was difficult. He liked to indulge after a successful heist, and before this incident, he had never seen a reason to refrain.

No, it was better for everyone involved if Dori remained in the dark about Nori's chosen profession. After all, it wasn't as though he could do much while he was carrying the child, and once they were on the road, Dori would be so concerned with making sure that the babe was okay that he wouldn't notice if Nori slipped off for a time whenever they were in a town. Any money he made would be given to his brothers, he didn't have much that he needed, so he thought that it would be fine.

Nori snorted to himself, setting aside the outfit he had been working on, now complete and adorned with their family's sigil in purple. Yes, it would work out fine, and Dori would somehow be perfectly fine with having a teenaged thief for a brother. He was handling the pregnancy remarkably well, but Nori thought that was only because children were sacred to their race. If Dori ever found out that he was a thief...being banned from their home would be the least of his worries, more than likely. Even familial loyalty would have to stop somewhere, wouldn't it?

When Dori bustled in with tea and Nori's current craving, chocolate covered fruits, Nori decided to put that thought aside. Ripe fruit was expensive, chocolate covered fruit even more so, and there was no point in wasting it. Nori had never been that interested in self-reflection and things of that nature, and worrying about the future could wait for another time. Besides, he was a smart dwarf, there was no way that Dori would be able to find out.

"When we're finished with our tea, I think that we should go over the things that we already have for the babe. I believe we have enough hats and outfits, but we need more toys and blankets," Dori said briskly, breaking Nori out of his thoughts.

"Well, I know that we'll have enough socks for the babe until the next coming of Durin, with how many you've made," Nori said, smirking. He dodged the ball of yarn that had been lobbed at his head, picking up a few pieces of fruit and ignoring the tea. It would taste foul whether it was drank fresh or if he waited until it was cold, so he didn't see the difference.

"Honestly, I do not know how we are related," Dori sniffed, tossing his head. Nori could see the amusement in his eyes, however, carefully hidden to anyone who didn't know him well. "I think that you were switched at birth with another dwarfling, and my calm, sensible, tea-loving brother is out there somewhere."

The fruit may have been fairly expensive, but the biscuits that Dori had made himself were good for throwing. Even Dori forgot his dignity for the moment as the two of them had their small food fight, and he was still smiling as they cleaned up afterwards. It may not be perfect, but it was good enough, and Nori could accept that.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's the second chapter I promised, the one that was intended for this week. Next week's chapter might come on Friday instead of Saturday, since my weekend is going to be pretty busy. A warning, this chapter has a semi-graphic childbirth scene that starts after the line. It's not a very long scene, but the warning's there if you want to skip it.

Months passed, and Nori continued to grumble about the changes to his body due to the pregnancy. Dori worked a little less as Nori neared the end, and he pretended that he didn't know that it was for his benefit, so that he wouldn't need to go through it alone. Although Nori would rather be tortured than admit it, he was nervous about the birth. What books he had been able to find made it pretty clear that there was going to be a lot of pain, and that sometimes things went wrong. The healer that Dori periodically dragged him to said that both he and the child were healthy, but he wasn't going to relax until it was out of him.

When the pains started, midway through his final month, Nori was actually grateful. When they started, the pains weren't much worse than the 'practice' pains that he had been having, so he thought that he would be able to handle it on his own. He didn't tell Dori that it had started, not wanting to have his brother fussing over him, and simply went to lay down after Dori went to work. He remembered the healer saying something about resting while he could in the early stages, so he decided to heed her advice.

Nori slept until lunch, waking to Dori calling that he was home. That meant that he'd brought lunch or was making it now, so Nori heaved himself to his feet, once again remembering when he could run over rooftops without making a sound and wishing the babe would get here already so he could get back to doing that, but he doubled over with a grunt as a fresh pain washed over him. That was different than the earlier ones, more noticeable, stronger, and lasting longer. Maybe this would be a little harder than he thought.

Still, Nori went to lunch. He only had two pains while they were eating and he managed to cover his reaction to them so that Dori didn't notice. His brother was preoccupied with work difficulties regardless, so it was easier to hide the pains than it would have been another time. Just a few more hours, he thought, watching through the window as Dori walked down the street, back to work. The baby hadn't been in any rush to get here so far, Nori doubted that would change before Dori got done with work for the day.

Nori didn't want to sleep again, he felt as though he had slept more since he found out about the pregnancy than he had in all of his thirty years combined. He smiled faintly as he realized that the baby would be here before his birthday, something Dori had fussed about. He wanted them both to have separate birthdays, and hadn't wanted Nori to be in pain on his birthday. At the moment, even if the pains were a bit stronger than the false pains that he had been having, he was still able to move around.

So, instead of worrying about the fact that the part of this entire pregnancy that he had been most nervous about was happening, he went about his normal tasks, cleaning and working on a few things for the baby that they hadn't finished yet. He got the little kit that Dori had put together and moved it to his room, switching out his sheets for the old ones that they wouldn't mind replacing. He knew this would get messy before the end, after all, so might as well try to limit all of the mess to one room.

When it was almost time for Dori to be through with work, Nori was less able to work through them. The time between the pains had shrunk, and now he would have to stop and try to breathe through each one, rather than just continuing to work. Now he knew why Dori was so insistent on having a healer for this, even with what he'd read, this was a lot to handle. Of course, he hadn't notified the healer or his brother that he was laboring, so neither of them were there with him.

If Nori were a different kind of dwarf, he would have actually cried with relief when he heard Dori's voice. Nori had moved from the chair by that point, and was standing with his hands pressed against the wall, leaning in during every pain to help ease himself through it. He likely was a sight when Dori finally turned the corner and saw him, hair pulled back in a rough ponytail because he cared more about getting it out of his face than he did about styling it today, clothed in his loosest tunic and naught else, leaning against the wall and nearly biting his lip bloody at each pain.

"You were laboring since this morning, weren't you?" Dori asked, briskly moving to help Nori move away from the wall, leading his brother to the bedroom. Best to get him comfortable while they could. "Perhaps last night as well."

Nori just grimaced and let his brother lead him to his bedroom. At least he had gotten it prepared earlier, one less thing to worry about now. The idea that he had been in labor since the night before made him pause for a moment, but then he shrugged and kept walking. "Doesn't matter now."

"No, I suppose not," Dori mused, getting Nori settled in the bed, retrieving a glass of water and setting it on the nightstand. "I am going to speak to the healer, rest while you can. Try to drink that, it is important to stay hydrated." He knew a little about the process, although his only practical experience was thirty years ago when Nori was born. Dori himself had only been ten at the time, so his memories were faint.

"You're taking this better than...I thought," Nori admitted, having to stop partway through to breathe. He had known pain, falling out of windows or once when he had been caught and whipped. This...the pain and pressure he was feeling now...it didn't compare. "I can't believe dwarves do this more than once!"

"Not only dwarves, nadad," Dori said, smiling faintly as he brushed a few stray strands of hair out of Nori's face before leaving the room. Thankfully their healer was close by, he didn't want to leave his brother for long.

* * *

Nori paced, soaked in warm water, and had a massage from Dori in the next few hours. The healer encouraged him to do whatever made him feel comfortable, the walking especially to try to help move things along. If the woman was surprised that it was an undeniably male dwarf who was giving birth, she didn't show it, simply directing both Nori and Dori and entirely unfazed by Nori's curses.

When they got to the pushing stage, Nori was on his knees, his arms looped around Dori's neck and his face hidden in Dori's shoulder so that no one could see the tears that the effort wrung out of him. He had already soiled himself and vomited in front of his brother, he didn't want to embarrass himself even more.

Dori, for his part, kneaded Nori's lower back to help with the pain and pressure, not flinching when the younger dwarf's arms dug painfully into his shoulders as Nori leaned into him with each burst of effort. He murmured reassurances, despite the burst of bittersweet longing that had swept through him. Nori hadn't allowed himself to be vulnerable around anyone in years, and to Dori it seemed like only yesterday that he had been carting around his little brother when the younger dwarf hadn't wanted to walk to the market but hadn't wanted to be left behind.

Slightly over an hour after Nori started pushing, the child slid out fully. The healer bent over the small form, cleaning off some of the excess fluids and wrapping it in a blanket. She cleared the mucus and fluids from the child's nose for the second time, and suddenly the small room was filled with the catlike wails of a newborn. The old healer, whose name was Arya, quickly tied off and cut the cord attaching the child to Nori before passing it up to him.

Dori covered both of them with another warm, knitted blanket as Arya announced, "It seems like you have a healthy baby boy. Congratulations. Work isn't over for you yet though, lad." She coaxed him through delivering the placenta, told him what to expect in the coming weeks. She encouraged him to try feeding the child now but warned them to not be worried if he seemed to want to nap before he nursed for the first time. She offered to clean the baby, but Dori refused that. The first bath was given by the family, it was tradition. Arya accepted that, and only said that if they needed her, Dori knew where to find her before leaving the small house. She would let the two dwarves bond with the child.

"We have to come up with a name for him now," Nori said a few hours later. Both he and the baby had slept and eaten, and Dori had tidied up the bed. Nori was looking forward to when he was deemed strong enough to bathe again, but for the moment he was focused on the matter at hand. "Can't tell everyone 'this is our unnamed brother'."

"We should've planned for this," Dori said, slightly cross with himself. Most of his attention had been focused on getting Nori to this stage and ensuring that they would have what they needed for the child. "What about Rori?"

Nori made a face at that. "Sounds like he should be taking up arms for Rohan. What about Henri?"

"Sounds too Mannish," Dori said, shaking his head, and Nori conceded that point. "Tori?"

Nori made a face. "Reminds me of a former partner. What about naming him after Amad?"

Dori turned the idea over, looking down at the sleeping baby. He had a small tuft of ginger hair, rather reminiscent of Dori's before it started turning silver and only a shade or two off of Nori's. "Xori?" he said, frowning faintly. "No, he should have his own name. What about Ori?"

"Ori," Nori mused, looking down at the baby. Similar enough to his and Dori's, not to mention their mother's, that no one would question it. But, it was still unique enough that the lad wouldn't have to worry about being overshadowed. "Ori son of Xori, I like it," he decided.


	5. Chapter 5

Ori, contrary to both Nori and Dori's predictions, was a very easy baby. He ate well, slept as well as any newborn could be expected to, and generally only fussed when he was hungry, tired, or wanted attention. Otherwise, he tended to hug the stuffed ram that Dori had knitted and coo at it or whoever was holding him. Even with his limited eyesight, Ori was already a fascinated observer of the world. Dori and Nori split his care evenly, although Nori tended to find a way to be elsewhere whenever Ori needed changed. How something so small could produce so much waste, he would never know.

They needed to stay in the town until Ori was a few months old, until it was safe to travel with him. Nori was still nursing him, but planned to wean him in another few months, before they reached Ered Luin. It would be a long trip, especially with the fact that Dori wouldn't want to camp very often because of Ori and would instead try to have them hop from town to town instead of making their way in a straight line across the country to get to Ered Luin. It would likely be the safest option, the best one for Ori, but Nori still chafed at the delay.

When it was finally safe to leave, the trip was every bit as maddening as Nori thought it was. In the first new town they arrived in, Nori disappeared immediately after Dori got their room, and didn't come back until three hours later, only returning then because he knew that Ori would need fed. As Dori passed the child over, he could smell pipe smoke and alcohol on his brother's clothes.

"Have you been drinking?" Dori asked, pursing his lips in disapproval. Nori didn't seem like he had been drinking, but it was best to make sure.

"I can't drink until the kid's weaned, you told me that," Nori grumbled, still not happy with that. As soon as Ori was weaned, he was getting that ale. He had been waiting for over a year now. "I wasn't smoking either, but it's nice to know you still think so highly of me."

"Then why do you smell like a brewery?" Dori asked, folding his arms over his chest. "Did you go to a tavern? Why would you do so if you know that you can't drink?"

"Maybe I like the atmosphere," Nori retorted, shifting Ori into a more comfortable position. He smirked as the kid all but glared at him for daring to move him in the middle of his meal. "Nice try, kid, but you need to be a bit bigger before you can take me on."

Dori ignored the teasing, focusing on the heart of the matter. "Nori, why would you disappear for three hours just to sit in a tavern? Especially if you didn't plan to do things that you know you shouldn't?"

Nori rolled his eyes but shifted Ori enough that he could reach into the pocket of his jacket, which had been carelessly tossed over the arm of the chair he was sitting in. He tossed a money pouch on the table, filled with coins. "There, to help with the cost of the room."

"Where in the Maker's name did you manage to make this much money so quickly?" Dori asked, entirely confused now. He thought that Nori was up to mischief, not getting a job, but even so, what job would pay him so much coin for so little work?

"What does it matter where I got it?" Nori snapped, irritated by the questioning. Apparently keeping Dori in the dark about his lifestyle wouldn't work as long as he'd hoped. He could try to stall, but he knew that Dori would keep pressing until he figured it out. His brother was nosy, it was a trait they shared. "I won it in a poker game."

Dori was silent for long enough that Nori finished feeding Ori, burped him, and put him down to sleep. Eventually, he couldn't take the silence anymore and just snapped, "What?" Dori was never this quiet, Dori was always fussing or scolding or worrying about something or someone.

"I just am trying to understand why you would think that this is necessary," Dori admitted, sighing as he moved to sit on one of the two beds in their small room. "Why you would go to a tavern of likely ill repute just to find a poker game and risk losing, all to make a bit of coin."

 _Because I like it_ , Nori thought. _Because I love being able to trick anyone who sees me as an easy mark, fleece a fool out of their coin, the rush of adrenaline that comes from not being entirely certain if I will win big or lose everything._ But, that was on the list of things he couldn't say to Dori, no matter if it was the truth.

"Because I thought we could use a little extra coin," Nori said, shrugging loosely and tossing himself onto the other bed. "Food for us, food for the kid once he stops nursing, for the rooms we'll need and maybe even to rent ponies at some point so we don't have to walk the whole way. I know you saved a lot, but it never hurts to have extra, right Dori?"

Dori couldn't really fault Nori's logic, and he sighed as he nodded. "Fine, but don't feel as though you have to. I would rather do without a few comforts than make you do something you're uncomfortable with."

The sad part was, Nori knew that he meant it. Dori was fussy and tended to enjoy the finer things in life, but he would never put that ahead of Nori's comfort, nor Ori's. It made Nori feel a little guilty because of his lie, but mostly he felt overwhelming relief that Dori had bought his excuse, that he didn't have to admit to his brother that he really just liked rigging poker games and the rush that came with a particularly good heist.

Still, after their conversation, Dori never questioned it when Nori would disappear for a few hours after they reached a new city and return with coins, food, or little things for Ori. Sometimes it was honestly gotten, but more often than not it came from rigged card games, pick pocketing, or even outright theft. He couldn't arrange or participate in large heists, not with Ori and Dori with him, but he could still pick off an easy target, one who deserved to have their purse lightened, and take care of it.

Dori never said anything, although he truly didn't like the thought of Nori risking himself for a few coins from a card game, but he couldn't keep quiet when Nori returned one evening bruised and bleeding.

"You have to stop this," he said, dabbing at the bleeding scratches on Nori's cheek. "I told you that some men dislike losing and have no difficulty harming an unarmed dwarf."

"I'm fine, Dori. This wasn't from the poker game, I fell on my way home," Nori protested. It was partially true, at least. He hadn't gotten hurt playing poker, as he hadn't played poker at all that night. He had slipped when he climbed out one of the windows of the house he had 'visited', and although he caught himself, he scraped his face and hands on the stone before he caught himself on a window ledge and managed to climb the rest of the way down easily enough. "You know how the roads are in this town, I couldn't see the hole in the darkness and fell in."

"True, they really should do something to make their streets safer," Dori sniffed, tucking the bandages and ointments back into his pack once he was finished tending to Nori. "Still, you need to be more careful, or else Ori and I will be making the trip to Ered Luin on our own."

Personally, that was the option that Nori would prefer. Ori was finished nursing by this point, and going at Dori's pace they were only a week or two away from the dwarven settlement. He would rather go off on his own now, properly get back into his chosen profession, but he couldn't leave Dori to take care of Ori on his own. If nothing else, someone needed to save the lad from being cossetted to death.

"I worry about you, Nori," Dori added, his voice softer, more sincere. "And about Ori. What if one of the men you win money from holds a grudge against you? What if they harm you, or follow you back here and try to hurt Ori?"

"They would have to get through both of us, and given that you have a punch like a charging Oliphaunt, I'd like to see them try," Nori said, smirking. He wouldn't admit that he had worried about the same thing before, because there was nothing to be done about it. Nori loved his career and didn't want to give it up, and Dori wouldn't let him just up and leave again, so he had to make the best of what they had.

"You exaggerate horribly," Dori said, although they both knew that it wasn't far off the mark. Nori was fairly strong, about average for a dwarf, but Dori was stronger. He would wager that his brother was one of the strongest dwarves in this part of the country, and Dori still had a bit to go before he was considered full grown. He may only get stronger.

"I exaggerate far less than anyone would think," Nori replied. Trusting in his brother's abilities was the only thing that let Nori keep going out night after night without guilt. "And you didn't mind that comparison when we were younger."

"We were children then, we need to try to be respectable now," Dori retorted. "You know what they will say about us. They already gossip about Amad, because we have two different fathers and neither of them stayed. Now it will be even worse, because it will seem like it happened a third time and a third dwarf ran out on Amad and left their child behind."

"We could handle it then, and we can handle it now. Ori will learn to handle it too, he's a strong lad already," Nori said. He knew what the gossips said, what they would keep saying, but it was better, safer, than admitting that Ori was his.


	6. Chapter 6

Ered Luin was much like Nori expected it would be. Not prosperous like the Iron Hills, but the dwarves who lived there worked hard and managed to get by. Of course, there were still nobles who had somehow managed to keep their money after the fall of Erebor, but the majority of the dwarves were in the same position as he and Dori were, working hard to provide for their family.

Of course, Dori's definition of hard work differed from Nori's, not that the older dwarf knew that.

Dori had taken a job as a weaver fairly easily, and he also took in sewing on the side. It was a decent job, respectable and everything that Dori looked for in a potential job. More than that, it was also a job that allowed him to take Ori to work with him, which couldn't be said if he worked in the mines or in a forge. It wasn't Dori's dream, but it made enough to take care of them and allowed him to have Ori with him during the day, which was more important to him now. Later, once they were settled, then he would worry about finding a job that he loved.

Nori, on the other hand, spent a lot of time looking at crafts but never stuck with any of them for long. None of them were what he enjoyed, and unlike Dori, he wanted to be happy in his choice from the outset rather than waiting decades. He told Dori that he had a job, of course, lying about the location and his duties, because it was the only way to explain the money he regularly turned over to Dori, without telling him the truth.

Because the truth was that Nori knew every seedy tavern in Ered Luin. He would sneak out each evening, when Dori was asleep, and he would find a game or a plot to get in on. He was quickly making a name for himself, or rather, reviving the name that he had made for himself before Ori was born, and he was enjoying every moment of it. He knew that he wouldn't get the rush he enjoyed as a miner, a blacksmith, a jewel crafter, or any of the other 'respectable' jobs that Dori found for him when they arrived.

On one such night, Nori left the house as soon as Dori had Ori put down, heading to his favorite tavern. He had heard about a good game of dice that would be going on that night that he planned to get in on, maybe even see if anyone was planning a job that he could get in on. He usually only joined in on the robberies that were planned on the richer nobles, not wanting to rob anyone who was in the same situation his family was in, which meant he was picky about which heists he joined in on.

When he got to the tavern, there was a dwarf telling a bawdy story, mug of ale in his hand and fresh from the mines, going by the dust on his clothes and the mattock leaning against the table he was sitting at. Nori didn't remember him, and he was careful about remembering the regulars at each tavern he visited. If nothing else, the ridiculous hat that the dwarf was wearing would've stood out.

"Oi, Bofur," the bartender shouted. "Give us a song, it's been too long since we've had your ugly mug in here!"

"Don't hate me because I'm beautiful," the miner, Bofur apparently, called back, grinning with evident good humor. "And now that Bombur's babe is doing well, I'm free to spend my nights with you sorry lot."

Nori smirked, going to get his own ale and leaning against the bar. He was a bit curious about the miner, he'd admit that. The dwarf was reasonably good looking, despite the ridiculous hat. If nothing else, his braids were unique and he seemed sturdy, something Nori looked for in his partners, regardless of their gender. He could feel the miner watching him, and he raised his tankard in acknowledgement. "Let's hear a song, unless you think the alley cats do better."

That startled a laugh out of the strange dwarf, but he hopped up onto the table in front of him without delay (and without spilling a drop of his ale, which was a bit impressive), grinning as he started to sing, "There's an inn, there's an inn, there's a merry old in, beneath an old grey hill..."

Nori had never heard the song before, but he stamped and banged his tankard along with the rest of the bar. The miner had a decent voice, he decided, and an infectious smile. It had also been longer than he would admit since he'd had a roll in the hay, since his last lay was likely when Ori was conceived. He hadn't been able to go out with Dori watching over him while he was pregnant, nor had there been the opportunity while they were traveling. Ori was nearly a year old now, and he didn't think that he had gone so long between lays since his first time.

And there was something nice in being able to be himself with a potential bedmate. The miner evidently knew that he didn't always stick to the legal side of things in his business matters, and had even admitted to doing the same. There were a few mines that were illegal to work, for whichever reason, that he worked in when the reputable mines weren't hiring that day.

It was a risk, there were stiff penalties if he was caught, and risks to his life if he dug in the wrong place, but needs must. He had a younger brother, as well as an older cousin. The brother was a cook, and had recently found himself a partner. They had a child to tend to and another on the way, so he pitched in as often as he could. The cousin, Nori was told, was a miner as well, although his real craft was toymaking. Now, he carved toys and sold them when he wasn’t mining, and Bofur helped whenever he could as well. Still, even with the four of them working, it was difficult to make ends meet, something that Nori understood.

Nori, for his part, told Bofur about his 'brothers', and how he tried to help them both but couldn't find a particular craft to turn his hand to. Dori didn't make much, but he made enough to take care of himself and Ori, with Nori's help.

"It's not perfect, but nothing is," Nori finished, drinking the last of his ale and signaling for a fresh tankard. "As long as the kid has a better life than Dori and I did..."

Bofur nodded, wiping foam from his ale out of his mustache. "I said the same thing, Bom and Bif did too. Our parents did right by us, but things were always tight. Want to make sure that Bom's kids get a chance at a better life than we did, so they can do whatever they want instead of having to go to the mines."

Even though Nori hadn't been in Ered Luin long, he knew that the mine owners would pay for apprenticeships...and then make it so the dwarf would have to spend decades in the mines to pay back the debt. It was cruelly effective, as many dwarves wouldn't be able to afford the apprenticeship fees any other way, and Nori understood why Bofur didn't want his nephews or nieces going into that line of work. It was likely why Bifur continued mining, Nori suspected, although he wasn’t going to pry into something that wasn’t any of his business. He wasn’t looking for commitment with Bofur, just a willing bedmate for the night.

"But, that's all too depressing to be talking about, so let's have our ale and a song," Bofur said, and he grinned as he added, "And maybe a little more, if you're willing."

Nori snorted, his eyes flicking around the tavern. "I have a game to get to," he said, noticing them setting up in the far corner. "If you're still here when it's over, we'll see what happens." He picked up his tankard and walked off, smirking to himself as he thought of what Dori would say. He was still little more than a teenager, nearly thirty-two years old, and he already had gotten himself in trouble by being careless once already.

Still, he had been taking his tea promptly every month after Ori was born, even when he had no intention of having a roll in the hay, so he wasn't worried about that consequence again. The miner was about the same age as he was, and seemed perfectly content to have a relationship without strings, something that Nori appreciated because he really didn't want to commit to anything, in case one of his deals went bad and he did have to leave town.

Still, if Bofur was willing, he didn't see any harm in sharing a bed with the dwarf for a night. As long as he got back before Dori woke, his brother would never need to know.

Bofur, for his part, was wondering what was so enticing about the skinny little thief. It could be the smirk, or the fact that the other dwarf had a similar sense of humor. Could be too, that it had been too long since his last lay, too busy working and helping Bombur to bother with sex. At least the thief would understand that, given his own circumstances.

No one in the tavern paid any mind to Bofur and Nori leaving the tavern together, going back to the small rooms that Bofur shared with his cousin. Nor was Bofur surprised that, when he woke up in the morning, the window was open and his little thief was gone. Still, there was a letter affixed to the desk with a small knife, and he chuckled as he read it. 'I'll be back for that later, take care of it until then.' It seemed to him that the other dwarf was making an excuse to visit again, and Bofur couldn't say that he minded, whistling to himself as he started getting ready for another day in the mines.


	7. Chapter 7

Ori's first birthday was coming ever closer, and Dori was working more to try to save up enough so that they would be able to get the lad a proper present, perhaps a wooden toy since he had so many knitted or stuffed ones that Dori had made out of spare materials. He was content in Ered Luin, as although they weren't rich, they had enough to keep them all fed and clothed as well as a small amount put back. It would grow over time, the beginning of his apprenticeship fee. It wouldn't be needed for several years yet, but planning ahead saved panic down the road.

As Dori was busily mending a tunic that one of the lords had sent to him, he was startled out of his peaceful moment by a pounding on the door. Scowling at the rudeness, he got up and moved to go give the dwarf on the other side a piece of his mind, pausing when he saw that it was Dwalin, son of Fundin, Captain of the King's Guard.

Still, being a warrior didn't excuse rudeness, so Dori planted his hands on his hips and glared at the taller dwarf. "Do you mind? I have only just gotten my brother to sleep, and I would prefer if he isn't woken up by mannerless dwarves." Ori had been fussy that day, Dori suspected that he was coming down with a cold, and he didn't relish the thought of trying to rock the dwarfling to sleep again if someone woke him too soon.

Dwalin at least had the grace to look embarrassed, which mollified Dori a bit, but his next words put a stop to that. "I'm here about your brother, actually. We have him in a cell, he tried to pick Balin's pocket when he was in the market. He told us that you are his only kin, so you need to decide what to do to him."

Dori stood stock still for a moment, before turning on heel and storming off into the house. "Master Dori?" Dwalin called, slightly confused. The thief had seemed to think that his brother would come and bail him out...was he wrong? Dwalin couldn't really blame Dori for that.

That train of thought was cut off as Dori reappeared, the sleeping Ori tucked into a sling against his chest, purple knit hat over his small head. Likewise, a purple cloak was around Dori's shoulders now and he was tucking a small money pouch in his pocket.

"Well, I couldn't just leave him here alone, where is your head, Master Dwalin?" Dori snapped irritably, making sure he looked presentable before stepping outside and closing the door behind him. "Well, are you going to lead me to where you have hidden my brother? We will have words about this, Nori would never do something like this and it is frankly insulting that you would claim that he tried to steal from an important noble like Master Balin." The dwarf was their king's right hand, after all.

Dwalin's lips thinned, but he led the way down the street. Maybe this dwarf was right, perhaps they'd caught the wrong thief, but Dwalin doubted it. He had heard a lot about Nori son of Xori in the past few months, and none of it was particularly good. He could believe that that dwarf was the one who tried to pick Balin's pocket, likely assuming that he would be an easy target. He smirked at that last, the thief likely hadn't known what hit him when Balin chased him down and collared him.

When they did get to the jail, he led Dori to where the other dwarf would have to pay Nori's bail, small enough as Balin wasn't pressing charges and it was Nori's first offense (or at least his first recorded offense). Dori paid the bail with ill grace, waiting impatiently for the guards to bring his brother out.

"We will have words, Master Dwalin, if you ever unlawfully arrest my brother again," Dori warned as Nori was escorted out to him by two of Dwalin's men. He spared the guard captain one last cutting glare before sweeping over to Nori and ushering his brother out of the prison, ranting the entire way home.

"The nerve of him," Dori said as they reached home, taking off his cloak and hanging it up. Ori had, thankfully, slept through the entire trip, and Dori headed back to the nursery to put him down. "Accusing you of stealing from Master Balin, I cannot believe that he would do something so absurd! I should have fought against the charges rather than paying him, I should have-"

"Dori," Nori cut in tiredly, moving to sit down in one of the chairs. "He wasn't lying, it wasn't a mistake. I did try to rob Balin." The dwarf was older than he was, a few years older than Dori too, and he'd assumed that the scholar was out of shape from more time spent reading than fighting. He'd been proven wrong when he had been caught and turned over to the guards in record time, but he couldn't let Dori fight with the guards over something he really had done.

Dori stopped in his tracks, turning to look back at Nori in evident shock. "You...you actually tried to steal from Master Balin? You attempted to pick the pocket of the king's right hand, one of the most important dwarves in the mountain? Why...how...?"

"Go put Ori down," Nori said, to stall for time and because he really didn't want to have this conversation with Dori. If nothing else, it was likely that Dori would start shouting at some point and he didn't want to wake Ori up.

Dori stared at Nori for a few moments more, as though waiting for his brother to tell him that this was all a joke, albeit one in poor taste, but when nothing of the sort happened, Dori turned and continued on his way into the nursery. He could get an explanation once Ori was settled.

Nori fiddled with one of the small knives that he had taken to carrying, flipping it end over end. If only he'd been a little quicker, hadn't made a wrong turn into that alley...well, he knew better now and would plan better next time. He doubted that was what Dori wanted to hear, but he was suddenly sick to death of lying to his brother. Lying to everyone else? Part of his job. Lying to Dori? Annoying and had a tendency to make him feel guilty once Dori found out the truth.

"I did try to rob Balin, and really all I regret is that I was caught," Nori said, starting in on his explanation as soon as Dori reappeared, before his brother would have been able to start questioning him. "It's not the first time I've picked a noble's pocket, and it probably won't be the last."

"Why would you do this, Nori?" Dori asked, sinking into the chair opposite Nori's. "Why would you risk yourself this way? Especially when you have a job...Oh Mahal, they will probably fire you if they know you attempted to rob Master Balin-"

"I don't have a job, Dori," Nori cut in, because he knew that if he let Dori build up a proper head of steam, he would never be able to get a word in edgewise. "The money I've been bringing home is from card games and thefts, like the one against Balin. I only take from the nobles, they have so much that they'd never notice if some of it walked off."

"Nori!" Dori said, aghast. "This is...oh, if Amad were here, she would be horrified. What if you get caught again, and I cannot afford the bail? You will go to jail, Nori! Or what if you win money from an unsavory character, and they decide to take their anger at that out of your hide? Or if they come back here and try to hurt Ori?" He leveled his brother with a glare when Nori opened his mouth to speak. "And so help me, if the next words out of your mouth are 'they'd have to get through you first and you have a punch like a charging Oliphaunt', I swear to our Maker that I won't be responsible for my actions."

Nori closed his mouth with a snap. It had been a long time since he had seen Dori this angry, longer since he had been the cause, but he still continued. "I'm careful, Dori. I've been doing this since before I got pregnant with Ori, and this is the first time I got caught, at least the first time I was caught in a dwarven settlement. It was bad luck, it's not going to happen again." He was normally better at picking pockets than that, most never even noticed their purse was gone until after he was already several streets away and thus out of sight. It was just bad luck that Balin had reached for his purse at the same time that Nori had attempted to take it.

"And I make sure none of them follow me home, I wouldn't put Ori in danger." Dori could take care of himself, at least Nori hoped that he could, but he wouldn't risk Ori's life for anything. It was why he hadn't wanted the lad in the first place, beyond the fact that he was just too young and not ready to settle down. He had been better off when the only one that he had to worry about was himself.

"So you aren't even going to attempt to stop? Nori, you could be killed for this!" Dori protested. He couldn't see why Nori couldn't just settle down and find a perfectly acceptable job somewhere, there were dozens of crafts that he could turn his hand to if he just tried, and now the fool dwarf was turning his back on all of them in favor of the one that would get him jailed or killed.

"You'll never understand, Dori," Nori said, and that may have been the most honest thing he's ever said. He knew that, no matter how much he told Dori, how long he spent explaining or what words he used, Dori would never understand. He wouldn't understand the thrill of the heist, of the danger of being caught and the pride in your skills when you weren't caught. Bofur understood a little of it, at least enough that he didn't nag Nori to choose a new profession, but Dori would never understand. His elder brother was too prim, too proper and concerned with what others thought. He would never understand why Nori would willingly choose the life of a thief.

And why, even after being caught, Nori would still go out and get up to his old tricks no matter what Dori said. He couldn't stop, and he honestly didn't want to.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry that the update is late, my schedule changed at work, so now I work on Saturdays. I'm going to be off Thursdays and Sundays now, so I'm going to try to update twice a week, on those two days.

The next few weeks were tense, with Nori stopping all pretense of having a proper job and Dori being silently (and often, not so silently) disapproving of it. Dori still worked, but he took Ori with him even more than he used to. Nori pretended that he didn't know that it was because Dori didn't trust him with Ori, and he pretended that it didn't hurt. Whatever else he had done, whatever else he would do, he would never hurt Ori and he had thought that Dori would know that. No matter what else changed, he never expected that would. 

Ori's first birthday was a rather tense affair, as Nori had invited Bofur. The cheery miner had made Ori a set of blocks, carved out of wood and painted in a multitude of colors. Ori loved them, and spent a lot of time just bashing them together, but Dori was frostily cordial to Bofur and afterwards had berated Nori for bringing thieves and cutthroats around Ori. He had relented, somewhat, when he learned that Bofur was a miner, but he had stood firm. He didn't want any of Nori's business associates, excepting Bofur, to come to their home or come anywhere near Ori. 

Despite that, Dori was truly shocked when he was awoken in the middle of the night, one week after Ori's birthday party. Dori grumbled to himself, grabbing his robe and slipping his feet into his slippers. He assumed it was Nori, having forgotten his key or something of the sort and just deciding to wake Dori up because he could. It had happened before, so it wasn't surprising that was where his mind went. He already had a fairly well developed lecture at the front of his mind, and he was fully prepared to deliver it...until he opened the door and found Dwalin, not Nori, on the other side. 

"The fool has gone and gotten himself arrested for pick-pocketing again, hasn't he?" Dori asked tiredly. "You will have to keep him overnight, I won't be able to pay his bail until tomorrow." He had a few, very few, things of their mother's hidden away. One of the heirlooms would likely need to be sold to pay for Nori's bail, but he wouldn't be able to do that until morning. 

"I'm afraid that it isn't that simple this time," Dwalin said, and his expression was grave. "Your brother tried to rob the king. He escaped before we could apprehend him, however. If he is caught, he will be jailed for much longer than a night. Have you seen him recently?" 

"No...not since he left, when I was giving Ori his bath," Dori admitted, dazed. "He didn't say where he would be going, or when he would come back. We haven't been speaking since his arrest, and I have honestly been expecting that one time he would leave and not come back." 

Dwalin scowled, but Dori met his eyes levelly. He was telling the truth, he knew nothing about where Nori would be. Perhaps he should tell the guard to talk to Bofur, he was quite sure that the miner would know where Nori was, but he refused. Nori was his family, and regardless of whether or not he approved of his brother's choices, and right now it was well and truly on the 'not' side of things, he wasn't going to betray his brother just to make the guard's life easier. 

Dwalin stared at Dori for a long moment, then sighed and stepped away from the door. "When we find him, I'll let you know. You can bring the lad in to see his brother." For what would be the last time in a long time, really, as the thief was looking for a decade at least, maybe more as Thorin had been minorly injured in the rush to escape. 

"And if I find him, of course I will encourage him to turn himself in," Dori said, stepping back and closing the door before Dwalin could say another word. Oh yes, he would encourage Nori to turn himself in, when Durin walked among them once more and pigs flew like eagles. Not that his encouragement would matter regardless, Nori never listened to him. 

"You'll encourage me to turn myself in, huh?" came a voice from behind him, and Dori whirled around to stare at his brother. Nori's hair was escaping it's elaborate, three-pointed style, and there was a light bruise on one cheek that would likely darken considerably tomorrow, but all in all Nori looked better than Dori would have hoped for. 

"Of course not, don't be daft," Dori said crossly, recovering from the small scare and moving to make tea. "I just said that to make him leave. 'Encourage you to turn yourself in', are you mad? He plans to put you away for years if you're caught, Nori. I wouldn't be able to pay your bail, I thought that I would have to sell one of Amad's heirlooms just to pay your bail for pick-pocketing. Robbing the king...I don't believe I would be able to pay your bail even if I used all of the money we've set back for Ori and sold Amad's trinkets. You could be in jail for years." 

"Decades," Nori admitted, hopping up on the counter. Dori gave him a disapproving look, as always, but also passed him a mug of tea regardless, so at least nothing had changed there. "His Highness wasn't thrilled to walk in on a thief in his quarters. He got a few good knocks in, but I'm quicker. I also caught him in the arm with one of my knives, so they could spin it as attempted murder if they had a mind to." 

"Murder of a royal, no less, which would be even worse for you," Dori added, sighing. "You would be lucky to be out of prison before Ori is fifty." And he knew that Nori wouldn't survive one year. The environment, perhaps, but being caged was not something Nori did well with. Dori had come to understand that over the past few months, and imagining his brother in jail...no, even if they managed to visit, it would still be intolerable and Nori would be miserable. "You are going to leave, aren't you?" 

"Surprised you figured it out so quick," Nori admitted, but he didn't bother denying it. "Look, I would've left awhile ago if it wasn't for you and Ori. You're all that's keeping me here." 

"And Bofur," Dori added, sipping his tea calmly. "Or was your speech about him being different just to get me to stop nagging you?" 

"At least you finally admit that you nag," Nori grumbled, deliberately not answering the comment about Bofur. "Look, there's nothing keeping me here, besides you all. I would have left ages ago otherwise. I'm bored to death here, there's nothing to do and every day's just about the same as the last one. I'm sick of it." 

"Which is why you've taken bigger and bigger risks," Dori sighed, getting up to refill his cup. "First Master Balin, and now the king himself. You're bored so you just keep taking bigger and bigger risks until you end up in this scenario." 

"That about sums it up," Nori muttered. "I'm not going to jail, and I can't stay here anymore with the guards looking for me. I've got a friend who will smuggle me out of here, I'll be in the Shire by tomorrow." Hobbits weren't bad folk, all told. Good beer and good food, if nothing else. He'd spend a night in the Shire and then head for Bree. After Bree...he didn't know. "I'll write sometimes." 

"You'd better," Dori sniffed. "Ori adores you, he'll want to hear from you. And you will visit whenever you are in the area. I'm certain that you are intelligent enough to find a way to sneak past the guards long enough for you to spend a day or two with your family." 

Nori blinked at him. "Are you...encouraging me to break the law? And actually helping me to do it?" Dori was stuffy, straight-laced, and perfectly law abiding. He was also, Nori noticed, packing food and a few extras into a bundle for Nori to take with him, so he would be able to at least make it to the Shire. _He always takes care of his family_ , Nori remembered. It was why he'd gone to Dori roughly two years ago, when Ori was just an idea, one that scared him more than anything else. Even if he disapproved, Dori would always look after him. 

"I am encouraging you to keep in touch, as well as to leave now before that guard comes back," Dori said, bustling about the house as he gathered up clean clothes and whatever else Nori would need. "He didn't search the house this time, but if he doesn't find you soon, he will come back. It would be better if you weren't here when that happens." 

"Better for everyone involved," Nori murmured. Better for him, certainly, because then there was less chance of him being caught, but also better for Dori and Ori. If he was found in the house, Dori would be arrested for harboring a fugitive, and he doubted that they would go easy on him just because of Ori. There were any number of dwarves who would jump at the chance to take in a dwarfling, after all, and he wasn't going to let that happen. 

"Then go, and for Mahal's sake and my own, don't pull any more foolish stunts until you are out of the mountain. You'll turn my beard greyer than it already is," Dori grumbled, passing over Nori's pack once he was satisfied. It wasn't much, but then they didn't have much. It would be enough, however, Nori usually preferred traveling light anyway. 

"Take care of Ori, don't let him turn out as fussy as you," Nori said, slipping outside before Dori had a chance to respond to that. He smiled as he started jogging away from the house, keeping to the dark alleys. As bad as he felt about leaving Dori to take care of Ori by himself, Nori mostly just felt relief. He was finally free, free to go back to the life he had before Ori came along and his brother was watching his every move. He did have a moment of regret for Bofur, but shrugged it off. They'd never confirmed anything, and he was sure the other dwarf would understand. 

For now, however, Nori concentrated on getting out of the mountain without being discovered. He had too much that he wanted to do to be caught now. 


	9. Chapter 9

Time passed, and Dori worried. He knew, roughly, how long it took to make it from Ered Luin to the Shire, from the Shire to Bree, and when time passed and Nori still hadn't wrote...Dori assumed the worst. There were many things that could have gone wrong once Nori left the mountain, after all, regardless of how confident Nori was of his abilities. He knew that Nori hadn't been caught and apprehended before he left the mountain, or else Dwalin would have been knocking on his door once again, to tell him that Nori had been arrested and to allow him to take Ori to the jail, to let them both have a visit with their brother before he was tried and likely sentenced to years, if not decades, behind bars. 

So, Dori at least had the comfort of knowing that Nori hadn't been arrested in Ered Luin, but that didn't ease his worry much. His brother was cavorting with any number of unsavory types, Mahal knew what he was getting himself into. All it would take was Nori robbing the wrong person, beating the wrong individual at cards, and his brother's life would be in jeopardy. Knowing that, acknowledging that...well, the fact that Nori wasn't in jail was rather a cold comfort. 

He couldn't laze about, however, sitting and wringing his hands as he worried over Nori's wellbeing. He still worked as a weaver, taking in sewing on the side. Still knitted or sewed new clothes for Ori, who seemed to grow bigger by the day. The lad still had yet to show any inclination to talk, but it wasn't surprising for a dwarfling to take until they were a few years old to speak for the first time, given that dwarves aged and matured more slowly than men or hobbits. 

Dori found a reliable sitter for Ori, now that he was old enough that simply sitting with Dori as he wove tapestries was boring, and the dwarrowdam reported that Ori was as good as gold for her. Her rates were reasonable, especially as she accepted part of her payment in knitwear, and she was well trained with a sword so he rarely worried about Ori's safety while she was watching him. At least one of his brothers were safe from harm. 

When Ori's second birthday approached, Dori looked for letters or even a surprise appearance from Nori. Surely he would at least acknowledge Ori's birthday, regardless of the fact that it had been nearly a year since Nori had contacted them, wouldn't he? 

But the day passed, and although Dori had gotten Ori a toy and knitted him a few more new sweaters, there wasn't a sign of Nori, nor a letter or package from him. It was as though Nori was attempting to cut off all contact with both of them, even the methods that would be fairly difficult to track. 

_Or_ , a pessimistic voice murmured to him late at night, _maybe Nori couldn't write to them because he was dead and discarded on the side of the road somewhere, unremarked upon and with no one to send word to them._

Dori did his best to ignore those thoughts, but as the first year passed and the second neared, those thoughts became louder in his mind. He did his best to keep up appearances in public, and he managed to succeed until, a week before Ori's third birthday, Balin brought by a number of garments that needed to be mended. 

All the other dwarf had done was ask after Dori's wellbeing, as he was well-mannered enough to do so regardless of if he cared for the answer or not, but it led to Dori unleashing a veritable torrent of words upon Balin. 

"I have yet to hear anything from the young fool, and I honestly am more concerned that he has been left for dead in the wilds somewhere, more so than I would have been had he remained and been caught by your brother," Dori finished, burying his face in his hands. "I am quite sorry for unloading all of that on you, Mister Balin. I do believe that you are the only one who has asked me how I am since Nori disappeared." 

"Don't apologize for that, laddie," Balin said, patting Dori's shoulder comfortingly. "I know how it is when foolish younger brothers run off to Mahal knows where and get into trouble, never bothering to write home and just turning up out of the blue. Dwalin has pulled stunts in the past, and will likely still do so, that will likely turn my beard white before my time." 

"I believe my first grey hair came when Nori was born," Dori admitted, smiling faintly as he sat up properly to face Balin. "Or so it seems, as I have been getting him out of trouble from the time he was born." 

"And you wouldn't know what to do without him here to cause trouble," Balin said perceptively, and Dori sighed and nodded. "He'll turn up again, Dori, mark my words. Your brother seems the sort to be able to wriggle out of any number of scrapes and still come up looking like mithril." 

"Yes, that sounds like Nori," Dori said sourly. Even when they were children, Nori had always been able to wriggle his way out of trouble, with or without Dori's help, and he doubted that had changed. "I still worry for him, however, and likely will continue to do so until I have proof that he is well." 

"Nothing wrong with that, Dori," Balin said, smiling understandingly. "I worry about Dwalin still, even if he's now twice my height. At least your other younger brother is more well behaved, isn't he?" He had heard good things about little Ori, as word about children tended to travel quickly through the settlement. Children were rare among dwarves, after all, and treasured all the more due to their rarity. 

"Ori is thankfully still young enough that he isn't causing me any outstanding amounts of stress just yet," Dori said, smiling more fully as he thought of his little nephew, currently taking his afternoon nap and entirely unaware of the subject of the discussion in the living room. "He is already rather more calm than Nori ever was, less restless. He will be a fine dwarf when he is grown." 

"I have no doubt," Balin replied, thankful that Dori seemed more relax now, less inclined to fret over his missing brother. Briefly, he cursed the thief for making Dori worry so, but he kept those thoughts off of his face as he and Dori made small talk for a few minutes before he took his leave. 

Dori felt better after that conversation, and he admitted, if only to himself, that he had likely just needed a moment to worry for his brother without being judged for it. After all, Nori was known as a thief to most of their settlement, so expecting any to understand that he missed Nori would be foolish. But Balin had, regardless of his reasons, and Dori was thankful for that. 

He worried slightly less after that talk, as Balin had been right about at least one point. Nori was extremely resourceful, he would be able to find a way out of most, if not all, of the trouble he got himself into. Still, that thought didn't erase the worry completely, nothing but seeing Nori for himself, or at the very least receiving a letter from him, would be able to do that. 

Which was likely why, when he came home from the market one day, planning on putting his groceries away and then picking up Ori from his sitter, to find Nori lounging in one of the chairs as though he owned the whole mountain, Dori's first reaction was anger. 

"Two years, Nori! Two bloody years and you could not even scribble out one note to let us know you hadn't died in the meantime?" Dori snapped, storming past his brother to begin putting the groceries away. "A simple 'all's well, not dead' would have done quite nicely, at least to let us know that you hadn't been stabbed and your body left to feed the crows." 

"When you say 'we', you mean 'you', since Ori isn't old enough to understand why I'm not around or why it's dangerous," Nori pointed out, turning so that he could watch Dori without needing to move from the fairly comfortable chair. "You're just as much of a stuffy mother hen as you always were." 

"And you are just as selfish and reckless as you always were," Dori snapped, abandoning the groceries entirely and whirling to face Nori. "I can understand leaving to escape prison. In fact, I encouraged it, although I shouldn't have. But staying gone for two years? No visit, no letter? No word passed on to me through a traveler that you are still alive and well, regardless of where you were? It isn't as though I am trying to make you run all of your dealings past me, Nori, I simply wanted to know you were safe." 

"You aren't yet, just give it time," Nori muttered, getting out of the chair and moving to stand in front of Dori. "What do you want, an apology? I'm sure I can find a way to make one sound mostly sincere, if you give me a few moments. But I'm not sorry, Dori. I left because I had to, and I stayed gone because I _liked_ it. No one telling me what to do or judging me because of my 'ruffian' friends. Leaving meant that I was able to be free, for once in my life, and I didn't plan to ruin that by checking in with you constantly." 

"I'm not asking for constant updates, but knowing you are alive would be nice." Nori and Ori were the only family he had, and so Dori wanted to keep them safe. Whether or not he succeeded was a different matter, but he tried his hardest. 

"It's better for all of us if I don't come around much, Dori, and if I don't send letters," Nori said, sighing and moving to lean against the table. "Dwalin's likely still looking for me, and if he thinks that you are helping me, he'll arrest you and take Ori. Kid needs to know one of his family members, might as well be the one who isn't wanted for robbing the future king." 

"And running lets you forget your responsibilities and care only for yourself," Dori finished, and when Nori dipped his head without verbally responding, he left the groceries to fend for themselves while he went to take a walk. He had made it a point to never raise a hand to Nori, not wanting to risk hurting him. He wouldn't let one fight change that, and so a walk to calm down was necessary. 

Back at the house, Nori looked at the meat and random vegetables scattered around the kitchen and admitted to himself that his return could have gone better. 


	10. Chapter 10

After that fight, Dori wasn't surprised that Nori only stayed long enough to play with Ori before disappearing again. He didn't know how his brother had gotten into the mountain without alerting the guards, but he assumed that Nori would do the same to leave. Dori had never asked, partially because he doubted Nori would tell him but also because there was less risk of him slipping, and thus making it more difficult for Nori to return next time. He wasn't going to risk that, it had been hard enough to convince Nori to stay in contact as it was.

Ori was the one to convince him, Dori privately thought. Their 'youngest brother' adored Nori, with a level of hero worship that was usually reserved for heroes from tales, not thieves who spent little time with their family. He didn't try to stop it, however, as Ori was the reason Nori would stop by more frequently now and because Ori was still young. There was still a lot of time for him to change the subject of his idolization to someone more suitable, and in the meantime it didn't hurt anyone. 

What did worry him was how happy Ori would be whenever Nori showed up, nearly incandescently so, and how upset the lad would be for days after Nori left. Ori was only three, going on four at this point. It was possible that he still recognized Nori as his parent, although Dori fervently hoped not. While he personally thought parenthood would suit Nori (or, at the very least, make him settle down), he could understand why his brother wasn't prepared to be a parent now and easily shouldered the burden of caring for their 'brother' largely on his own, with Nori's infrequent help. 

It had already been three years, and he was getting used to referring to Ori as their brother. It wasn't as though Nori was particularly fatherly, he seemed more interested in roping Ori into mischief, the way an older brother would behave with a younger brother. Dori himself had never acted like that, but Nori had been mischief incarnate and their mother had been too ill to deal with it, so many times Dori's reactions had been more parental than anything else. It was a trait he hadn't outgrown, nor did he think he ever would. He had been looking after his family for so long, it was second nature to him now. 

It also tended to lead to fights between them whenever Nori was around, as Nori seemed to have less tolerance for his 'mothering' with every year that passed.

* * *

"For the hundredth time, I don't need you asking if I've got enough pairs of clean drawers!" Nori snapped, glaring at Dori. "Mahal's Balls, Dori, I'm thirty-four years old! I don't need you running after me with scarves or checking to see if I'm wearing warm enough clothes. I got enough of that when I was Ori's age and I'm not taking it now." 

"Well, someone needs to make sure you are taking care of yourself properly," Dori sniffed. "For all I know, you are behaving dreadfully whenever you are away." And that was likely the truth, so Dori moved on before Nori could comment. "You likely would never remember to pack a scarf or fresh undergarments if it weren't for my reminders. Or have you forgotten that you asked me to mend your clothes while you played with Ori?" 

"That was for expediency!" Nori protested, because he could sew well enough on his own now. But he also only planned to be in town for a week, maybe less, and he didn't want to waste it mending clothes when he could be playing with Ori. He should have known that would be used against him. "I know how to sew!" 

"I should hope so, I taught you myself," Dori retorted, and Nori wondered if it was more or less irritating that Dori never missed a stitch in his knitting when they were arguing. Nori always made a hash of things if he tried to knit or sew while he was arguing with Dori, so he rarely bothered trying. "But you rarely apply yourself and so I have to 'chase after you' as it were, to ensure that you are outfitted properly." 

Nori had several responses to that, including one that he knew would rile his prim and proper brother to no end, but he also knew that if he opened his mouth, he would start to scream. Ori was napping, Nori had to fight with him to get him down since Ori was apparently keen on fighting naps now, and so he wasn't going to risk disturbing the dwarfling's sleep just because of Dori being...well, Dori. Ori didn't deserve that. 

Instead of replying, he simply stormed out of the house and ignored Dori calling for him to come back. He needed a drink.

* * *

Bofur was waiting for him at their usual tavern, two ales on the table along with his flute. He'd been playing, then, and had likely charmed his way into free ale or free food. Possibly both, if Bombur was working today, since the owner let Bombur give Bofur a free meal if he popped by when Bombur was working. 

Naturally, both Bofur and Nori made it a habit to pop by anytime Bombur was working. Who were they to refuse free food? 

"I know that look," Bofur said, nudging an ale toward Nori with a smile as the other dwarf flopped onto the bench across from him. "What did Dori do now?" 

"Trying to take over for one of the seers now?" Nori grumbled, taking the ale and scowling down into the tankard as though the beverage had personally wrong him. 

"No need for the Sight when you're sitting there, scowling fit to curdle milk," Bofur said easily. One of the things Nori liked, and didn't understand, about the miner was how difficult it was to offend or anger Bofur. Insults, slights, arguments...they tended to roll off of him like water off of a duck. It was difficult to fluster him or make him truly angry. "Whenever you get that look, you and Dori have been going at it." 

"He thinks being a decade older means he has a right to dictate my life," Nori grumbled. "I'm a thief! D'you really think any blasted acquaintance of mine cares if I'm wearing a scarf when it's cold, or if I've got a hole in my tunic?" 

"Are you going to listen if I reply, or just keep talking?" Bofur asked conversationally. Whenever Nori fought with Dori, he generally just needed to rant and get it all out of his system. Talking to him rationally before he was finished was a lost cause, so Bofur tended to just settle in and wait for Nori to run out of breath. 

"No!" Nori said, ignoring Bofur's reply as the other dwarf knew he would. "All they care about is if I can do my job, and not a blasted thing else. It's only Dori who cares about that stuff. Honestly, I don't see how I was supposed to notice Amad's death, with Dori keeping after me worse than she ever did." 

"You done ranting yet, or will I get my head chopped off if I try to speak," Bofur asked, shrugging at the glare he got. "I'm rather attached to my head, personally. If nothing else, it's a good place to keep my hat." 

"That hat's an abomination," Nori muttered, but he sighed and slumped in his seat. "Alright, talk. What, do you think Dori's right and I'm supposed to go crawling back on my hands and knees to apologize to him?" 

"Doubt he'd go that far, but it'd be a sight if he did," Bofur mused, shrugging when Nori glared at him again. 

"I still don't know why I'm friends with you," Nori muttered, shaking his head and finally taking a drink of his ale. 

"Because I'm a fantastic lay and don't chase after you for commitment," Bofur replied, grinning, and Nori had to concede that point. "What I think is that he's worried about you." 

"Of course he's worried, Dori worries if the kettle boils over," Nori muttered sullenly. 

"Look, I'm old enough to make my own wage, even get my own place if it wasn’t easier for Bif and I to share, and you know that every morning he'll ask if I remembered to change my drawers?" Bofur replied. "He's done it since I was a tyke, as a joke, and he still does it now that we’re grown. Is it annoying? Sometimes, yes, it is, especially when he tucks on a reminder for me to keep out of mischief. But it also makes Bifur happy and I don't mind taking five minutes to reassure him that I'm wearing clean drawers before I leave the house." 

"Still can't be as annoying as Dori," Nori pointed out, sighing. "He...our Amad was always sick, as far back as I can remember. Dori was the one one cooking and cleaning and making sure I went to my lessons. He's only a decade older, but he's been taking care of me for most of my life." 

"Seems like it would be a hard habit to break," Bofur pointed out. "I won't deny it, he's a fussy mother hen who wouldn't know fun if it danced naked in front of him wearing my hat, but he's also your brother and I know he worries about you when you're gone. Cut him some slack, Nori, he probably doesn't like the arguing any more than you do, and Ori probably hates it too." 

"We don't argue around Ori," Nori pointed out. Because they didn't, they were very careful about that. No matter what Nori did or how much Dori irritated him, both brothers would hold their tongues until Ori was either asleep or with his sitter before they would vent their pent up anger or irritation. 

"Well, at least the lad won't ever be stuck in the middle of his battling brothers," Bofur said, shrugging and finishing off his ale. That was something, at least. "Oh, prob'ly should tell you to pass on my congrats to your brother for his new job, Bifur would have my ear if I didn't." 

"New job?" Nori asked, confused. He hadn't had much time to ask Dori for what had happened while he was gone, they'd started arguing almost immediately. "He's not a weaver anymore." 

Bofur shook his head, mustache braids swaying as he did. "No, 'bout a month ago he got an offer to work in a tea shop, some merchant overheard Dori in the market and decided he'd be a good fit for his new shop." 

"Dori knows more about tea than any other dwarf in Ered Luin," Nori said proudly. Even when his brother irritated him, Nori could still be proud of his achievements. 

Bofur knew that, and he also knew that laughing about it would mean that Nori wouldn't share his bed before he left, so the miner wisely changed the subject. Falling into their usual patterns of flirting and bickering would be better than letting Nori dwell on Dori's mother-hen tendencies. 


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for not uploading last Thursday, I ended up getting busy and forgetting about it until I was at work the next day. So, I'm going to upload 2 today to make up for it. As always, I hope you all are liking the story!

Nori decided to stay a little longer this time, despite his fight with Dori. Ori was babbling more and more, and it was about time for him to start talking. Most dwarflings would say their first word when they were near Ori's age, as dwarves aged and developed slightly slower than humans did. He'd heard that with elves it took even longer to reach maturity, but he tended not to spend too much time around elves if he could help it. Skinny, insipid twigs, the lot of them, and with their enhanced senses, they would've been able to see him coming if he tried to rob them. 

Dori was equally excited about the possibility of Ori's first word, and had taken to speaking to the boy even more than usual, trying to coax him into saying something properly rather than his strings of gibberish. Granted, it sounded like fairly intelligent gibberish to Nori, at least it beat Dori's lectures. He didn't bother obsessing over Ori's first word as much as Dori did, he doubted trying to coax Ori to speak would work, as the dwarfling had a stubborn streak that Dori blamed entirely on Nori, which the thief couldn't deny. 

Still, when Ori did say his first word, Nori never thought that it would lead to panic on his part.

* * *

Dori was tidying up their dinner dishes, so Nori picked up Ori when he noticed the lad falling asleep over his toys. He had already had his bath, so Nori thought that he could manage to take Ori back to the bedroom without waking him up completely. Simple, really, something that Dori did every day. 

What didn't happen every day was Ori snuggling closer and murmuring, "Da," sleepily before falling completely asleep. 

Nori froze, then looked between the dwarfling in his arms and his brother in the kitchen. Dori was the one teaching Ori to speak, even if Nori thought it was a waste of time. He knew that Dori was trying to convince Ori to say 'Dori', but he had never heard his brother coaxing the dwarfling to say 'Nori'. Was this why? Because Dori was trying to convince Ori to say 'Adad'? 

He carried Ori back to the nursery, fuming, and then headed back into the main room. Dori was making his evening pot of tea, likely planning on sitting by the fire and working on a new knit project for Ori. What he likely didn't expect was Nori storming into the kitchen and asking, "What is wrong with you?" 

"Aside from the fact that my brother often speaks without context, and all I wanted was a quiet night and it seems that I cannot get it?" Dori asked, not even bothering to turn around. 

Nori scowled. "Not that," he snapped. "You've been teaching Ori to call me 'Adad'. So, like I said, what's wrong with you? Is it that hard for you to accept that I didn't want to be his father, that I'd rather just help you raise him off and on, be the cool brother while you're the strict, fussy one?" 

"Thanks ever so for the glowing commendation of my parenting skills," Dori said, finally turning to face Nori. "But, Nori, I didn't teach Ori to say the word 'Adad' at all." 

Whatever Nori expected, it wasn't that. "What?" 

"I didn't teach him the word 'Adad'," Dori repeated patiently. "I thought that it would be rather irrelevant at this stage, as would be 'Amad'. I tried to teach him to say 'Dori' or 'Nori'. I would have been satisfied with a simple 'Ri' at present, although it would make it difficult to differentiate between which one of us he's speaking to. Why do you think he was calling you 'Adad'?" 

"He said 'Da' when I went to put him to bed," Nori said, slumping down in the chair. He was almost boneless with relief, to be completely honest. The thought that Ori remembered enough, remembered Nori was his father...well, that was basically everything they were trying to avoid. Dori pushed a mug into his hands, and he sipped it automatically, arching an eyebrow when he tasted liquor as well as tea. "Did you spike the tea?" 

"Don't be ridiculous, of course I did," Dori said simply, leaning against the counter as he sipped from his own, presumably spiked, mug as well. "You needed it, as you are panicking over a simple word from Ori." 

"I'm not-" Nori started to protest, but Dori waved him off. 

"Nori, Ori has been saying 'ba' and 'ma' and several other two letter words that end in 'a'. I've been expecting a 'da' at some point, and I don't think he is actually at the point where he connected the word to either of us," Dori said, shrugging loosely. "He is still a baby. If he is calling you 'Adad' when he is in his teens, however, then I will admit that we'll have a problem." 

"We have a problem _now_ Dori," Nori protested, taking another sip of his doctored tea. It wasn't bad, not that he would admit that to Dori. More shocking was the fact that Dori had spiked the tea at all, making Nori wonder how many other times he had made a cup of doctored tea. It gave new meaning to Dori's habit to have tea after every argument, if he was right. It was equally possible that this was an unusual occurrence and Dori just was in the habit of drinking tea. Nori couldn't predict his brother's motives with any accuracy anymore. 

"Nori, no one in Ered Luin knows that you are here," Dori pointed out. "So it isn't as though you will be walking down the street with him and someone will overhear him saying it. It's a phase, nothing more. You went through dozens of them, including one where you streaked around the settlement skyclad at any opportunity." 

Sometimes, Nori had reason to curse the fact that Dori was the one who had all but raised him while their mother was ill. This was one such moment. 

"I will continue working with him and teach him to call us by our names, as is proper for our younger brother," Dori replied, finishing off his tea and beginning to wash the mug. Truly, he was getting into the habit of thinking of Ori as his brother rather than his nephew. He would never forget, of course, but the lad was different enough from Nori that it wasn't as though he was forcibly reminded of their relation every time he looked at Ori. "And you will stop fussing over little things, I believe that is my job." 

That did draw a small smile out of Nori. It was true, Dori was usually the one over-reacting to things like this and Nori would be in the background rolling his eyes. In this case, though...he wanted Ori to have the best possible life, and he never wanted the lad to find out that he initially hadn't been wanted. 

Because Nori had never wanted a child, especially not when he was as young as he had been when Ori was born. He had seriously considered just leaving Ori with a suitable family at one point, but in the end hadn't been able to do it. He needed to know that Ori would be fine, and he didn't trust anyone but Dori to provide the level of care he'd expect. So, claiming the dwarfling as their brother was better than just abandoning him to strangers or leaving everyone know that Nori was his father and also left most of his care to Dori. 

He knew that Ori wouldn't see it that way, however. All the younger dwarf would know would be that no matter how much he's loved by his family, his father hadn't wanted him at first and still didn't want to be a parent. It would be hard to explain the truth, Nori still had trouble trying to explain it in his head, let alone out loud to Ori, and he knew that, more than anything, the boy would be hurt. Nori wanted to prevent that, and he knew Dori did as well, but it also led to him being very sensitive on that particular issue. 

"Finish your tea and then go to bed, Nori. With sleep, things will make more sense," Dori advised, moving to take his accustomed place by the fire, already rummaging in his basket for his current project. "Tomorrow, I will redouble my efforts on getting Ori to call us by our names, once he is speaking properly." 

Nori just moved to dump out the tea, leaving the mug in the sink for Dori and heading to his bedroom. Once there, he rummaged in his bag for the presents he had brought with him for his brothers, things that he'd picked up on his travels that he knew they would like. There hadn't been an opportunity to give them out sooner. 

For Dori, there were a few new tea blends, ones that he knew that his brother hadn't tried before, as well as a new weapon. Dori had a serviceable sword, but he was deadly efficient with a flail and with bolas. While he hadn't found the former yet, Nori had managed to 'acquire' the latter, the leather perfectly cared for and the weights attached heavy enough that he had difficulty picking it up, something he knew would pose no problem for Dori. For Ori, he had picked up little toys from various lands, to supplement what Dori already had for him. 

He left the bag containing both on his bed, picking up his pack and climbing out the window. He hadn't planned to leave this soon, he had planned to stay for a few more days, but it was better if he left for the moment. When he came back again, Ori would likely have outgrown his 'phase' and Nori would be able to stop worrying about hurting the lad with the truth. For now, he was going to see if Bofur was interested in one more lay and then leave. He had heard that Rohan was pleasant at this time of the year. 


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second of the promised chapters for today, so make sure you go back and read chapter 11 if you missed it.

After Nori left, he stayed away from Dori and Ori for longer than usual. He did send little things for Ori on the lad's birthday and did the same for Dori, but that was the extent of the contact that he had with his family. Perhaps it was a little cowardly, sneaking out in the middle of the night like he had, but he thought it was for the best. If he stayed away, by the time that he got back, Ori would be speaking properly and there would be no risk of hearing the dwarfling call him 'Adad'.

He did feel a little guilty that he'd left over something so small, but it had seriously spooked him. He liked the set up that they had, regardless of how much Dori protested being called the fussy brother. Ori was taken care of well, and even if he never knew their mother or their father, he would grow up believing that their mother cared about him. He and Dori had both grown up without their fathers, as both had run off as soon as things got serious with their mother, but they had turned out well enough. Ori would be fine too, especially with Dori watching over him to make sure he didn't turn into a thief like Nori himself. 

Despite the small amount of guilt he felt over leaving, Nori still stayed away for three years. Three years, Nori had decided, would be enough for Ori to outgrow his phase. He would likely be speaking properly by that point, likely even about ready to start going to school. He'd miss a lot, but the end result would be worth it. Dori would likely have sent letters scolding him by now, which was why Nori made sure that none of the gifts would be able to be tracked. 

To do that, however, he'd needed help, and Bofur had been more than willing.

* * *

"Still don't see why you can't just take them the presents yourself," Bofur said, when he came home from another day at the mines to find Nori lounging on his bed. "Dori's getting pretty angry that I'm dropping off gifts periodically but can't tell him where you're at." Mostly because he didn't know where Nori was when Nori wasn't in his bedroom. Nori would just appear one day, stay for a few hours, and be gone by the next morning. 

"Because I don't like hearing Dori nag me for being gone all the time," Nori said simply. It was a good enough reason, one that Bofur would believe without getting into the main reason. He was actually getting pretty fond of Bofur, the miner was fun and had a good sense of humor, and he never tried to stop Nori from leaving or force a commitment that Nori didn't want at the moment. Maybe at some point, but he still loved the freedom of being able to just pick up and head to a new town whenever he wanted to, not having to worry about someone holding him back. 

"I think he'd nag less if you had me pass along a letter now and then," Bofur pointed out. "Ori's a cute kid, though. He calls me 'Bof'." It was pretty cute, he had to admit, and the little boy never seemed to mind him stopping by. Dori was a little more resistant, but since he was the only one who had any contact with Nori and would be able to bring news of his brother, Dori never turned him away. Granted, Bofur couldn't tell Dori much, but hearing that Nori seemed healthy was good enough for Dori at present. 

"Ori's talking now," Nori said, sitting up straight. That was interesting. If he'd mastered at least part of Bofur's name, that must mean that he's getting better at speaking properly. 

"Yeah, he's a regular little chatterbox," Bofur said, chuckling. "Course, he can say 'Bofur' now, but he still calls me 'Bof'. Your brother's no help, he just smirks and goes back to knitting or making tea or whatever. He's doing great at that tea shop, by the way. His boss is pretty impressed with just how much he knows about tea." 

"Yeah, Dori's always been obsessed with tea," Nori said, shaking his head. He remembered Dori telling him, when their mother had been alive, that he wanted to own his own tea shop one day. Nori thought that would be a pretty boring goal, but it seemed to fit Dori to a tee. His brother liked the stability, every day being the same as the one before it with only occasional surprises. That had never been Nori's idea of a good life, however, as he preferred to have adventure, adrenaline, and to live life on the edge. "I doubt that changed in three years." 

"It didn't, from what I could see," Bofur admitted, starting to change out of his mining clothes, brushing soot and dust off as he did. It wasn't the neatest of jobs, mining, nor was it the safest, but he got paid enough to keep himself fed and clothed, as well as pitch in money to help Bombur with his family. With the toy making he and Bifur did on the side, they had enough for to cover their needs as well as helping Bombur. They were pretty much living hand to mouth, but Bofur wasn't going to complain about it. Complaining never changed anything, and making jokes about it tended to lift everyone's spirits, making it less of a burden for them. "Still fussy, still loves tea and knitting. Although there's apparently something else he loves too." 

"What do you mean?" Nori asked, entirely mystified. Dori loved tea, knitting, and his family. There was really very little else that he could think of that Dori cared about. And the look Bofur was giving him, complete with waggling eyebrows...that made it sound like Dori had a partner. But that was crazy, Dori had never said anything about courting anyone, and his prim and proper brother would definitely do it the old way. 

"Seems that a certain noble of Fundin's line is spending quite a lot of time at Dori's," Bofur said, rolling his eyes when he saw Nori bristle. "It's not Dwalin. He came around a few times after you first left and Dori told him where to go. Very politely, apparently. He hasn't bothered Dori about you since then, probably thinks that Dori either doesn't know where you are, or wouldn't tell him even if he did know." Bofur personally thought it was a combination of both, but that wasn't really his business. 

"But, if it's not Dwalin..." Nori said, brow furrowed. "Has Balin been hanging around, trying to make Dori feel guilty that I almost robbed him?" That would make sense, but it had been years since that happened and he figured the other dwarf would have let it go, especially since nothing was actually taken. 

"Oh, he's been hanging around, but not to talk about you," Bofur said, chuckling. "He's been going to see Dori. And he's brought him gifts. Tea, new yarn, little things for Ori..." He'd seen the older dwarf leaving once, and he'd been all but whistling at the time. 

"Dori's being courted by _Balin_?!" Nori asked, disbelief evident. "Why would that stuffy old noble want Dori?" Yes, his brother was the epitome of male dwarven beauty, but most nobles were interested in preserving the bloodlines and things like that, at least from what Nori had seen. Of course, there were exceptions, since he'd heard something about the princess being interested in a miner, but the majority of them wouldn't want anything more than lay from Dori. He would be their secret, while they had a perfectly respectable partner in public. "If he's using my brother..." He would do more than just take the dwarf's purse this time. 

"Do you really think that Dori would fall for that, or that Balin would try it?" Bofur asked. He knew that some dwarves used smooth talk and a fancy title, and the ones they bedded were in over their head before they knew it. But, Dori's focus had been on Ori for so long, he was suspicious of any offers that came his way. "No, Balin seems to want to make an honest dwarf out of Dori eventually. I don't know what Dori wants, however." It wasn't like he was Dori's confidant, after all, he only knew what he observed. "Dori hasn't said anything yet, though." 

"Why not?" Nori asked, frowning. Marriage to a Fundinul would be good for Dori. He would have everything his prim and proper heart desired, Ori would be taken care of...he couldn't see why his brother would turn an offer like that down. Unless he didn't care for Balin, and only wanted the other dwarf as a friend? But no, if that were the case then Dori would have told him straight out, so that there weren't any hurt feelings down the road. The gifts would have stopped then, because Dori wouldn't have led Balin on just for free tea and gifts for Ori. 

"I can't tell you that," Bofur said, gathering what he needed to go to the bathing room, he needed to wash the mines off of him before he put clean clothes on. "You'll have to ask your brother that, because I doubt he'll tell me. It's been three years, Nori, I doubt whatever fight you two had is still bad enough to avoid them." 

"It is," Nori said, but he wasn't entirely sure about that. Ori was talking, which meant there was less chance of him saying something foolish. "The gifts are on the bed, I have to go if I don't want to walk to Bree." He was going to smuggle his way onto a caravan, get off at Bree, and then from there he would decide where he wanted to go next. Rohan had been interesting, although there were too many horses for his taste. Maybe he'd try for Gondor this time. He'd heard that there were toy boats that ran on clockwork, which sounded like a good gift to bring back for Ori. 

Bofur didn't say anything as the thief left as quickly as he'd arrived. Sooner or later, Nori would have to face his family. 


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in updates, I've been dealing with RL stuff and work's been busy. I'm uploading 2 chapters again, so that way we'll be at least a little caught up, and I'm off Wednesday as well as Thursday this week, so I'll try to put out a chapter on both of those days as well.

Another year passed before Nori decided to go back to the mountain. His reputation had preceded him apparently, as he was making a good name for himself in the underworld. He never lacked for work, and even if it wasn't the honest sort that Dori would likely prefer him to have, it was good enough for him. Of course, just because he was good at what he did, that didn't mean that he didn't make his fair share of enemies. When they stuck to targeting him, he had no problem taking care of it and rarely worried. When they branched out to threatening his family, however...

* * *

It had been a mistake, Nori could admit that. He'd been in a tavern, doing pretty well at his card game, when he had overheard a group planning a heist. Normally he would consider joining in, especially as they would be targeting more than one house, but then he heard which houses would be targeted. Most were just the normal, nobles or rich citizens, but the last one was a poor family. Nori couldn't see why they would be targeted, it wasn't as though they would have anything good to steal, but he overheard the leader saying that the eldest daughter of that family had refused him and he wasn't taking that lightly.

Now, Nori was far from the most moral of dwarves, but he made sure that the man knew that if he targeted that house, then Nori would go to the guards and tell them everything. He would be jailed, Nori knew, for a decade or more, which was a long time for a man. The man had challenged him, saying that he was bluffing, but he had eventually backed down once he realized that Nori was serious.

The dwarf thought that would be that, he'd just have to keep an eye out when he went to his room, but the man's words stopped him cold. 

"I don't like being crossed, dwarf," the man warned. "And I'll make sure anyone who cares about you suffers for it."

* * *

At first, of course, Nori had just blown it off and went back to his business. He had been threatened before and nothing had happened that he was unable to handle. He thought the man would stalk him around the city for awhile, then realize that there was no one he cared about in this city and give up. 

But, after a week passed, Nori realized that he hadn't heard anything of the man since that night. Asking around revealed that he had left that night, heading off in a hurry. It also revealed that he'd found out that Nori came from the Blue Mountains. 

At first, he wanted to scoff, as though the man would be able to find his family, but all he would have to do would be to ask one dwarf who remembered the thief Nori and the fact that he had two brothers would come out. Aiken didn't have the same boundaries that Nori did, he wouldn't hesitate just because Ori was a child or Dori hadn't done anything to him. Dori could handle himself, but Nori had never seen his brother fighting a human and if the man jumped him, caught him off guard somewhere... 

Well, Nori bought the first pony he could after hearing that, heading back to the Blue Mountains as quickly as he could. It wouldn't be that quick, they were a good distance away, but he just needed to be faster than the man. He had a week's head start, but it would take both of them time to get there, considering they were halfway across Middle Earth. Nori was determined to get there first, to warn his brother and make sure that Aiken would never bother them again.

* * *

When he got to Ered Luin, he didn't know if he was first or not, so he made his way quickly to Dori's, slipping inside and looking around. His knife was in his hand as something hit his knees, but he put it away just as quickly when he realized it was just Ori. 

"Nori!" the dwarfling said happily. "I knew you'd come back!" His birthday was in a few days, and although Dori had said that he would likely have a present from Nori, he hadn't promised the dwarfling that their other brother would be there, simply because he never knew when Nori would decide to show up. Ori had been firm, though, he had believed that Nori would come back in time for his birthday and had been working on a picture precisely of that eventuality, of the three of them standing around a cake and with Ori's favorite toys included because he usually had them with him. "Where were you?" 

"Everywhere," Nori said, grinning at Ori and relaxing as he looked around. Ori was babbling about his school and how much he liked learning to write, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Dori wasn't around, but could have gone to the market or something of the sort. "Where's Dori? Didn't think he'd leave you alone." 

"Theal's coming over," Ori said, shrugging. "Dori had to go to work." Sometimes Dori got called in unexpectedly, if one of the other workers had to miss a shift, and he trusted Ori enough to wait at home by himself for a few minutes until his sitter arrived and Ori never minded. He was a fairly quiet child and was content to draw or play with his toys by himself while he waited for his sitter. 

Nori nodded, accepting that. He'd met the dwarrowdam who looked after Ori and he approved of her. She also had kept quiet about him, which gave her a few more points in his estimation. "So, what's been going on while I've been gone, Ori?" he asked, settling on the floor by where Ori's small amount of art supplies were. He made a note to pick up some more, as the dwarfling showed talent. Even if he hadn't, Ori seemed to like drawing, so for that alone Nori would have bought the lad more art supplies. 

Ori immediately started recounting everything that had happened at school recently, how his teacher thought he was smart and decided to work at teaching him runes now instead of waiting until he was older, which was the standard procedure. Nori was proud of that, Ori was a pretty smart kid, from what Bofur had told him, and this just proved it. Ori also talked about the times when he had been able to go with Dori to work, and spending time with 'Mr. Balin'. Nori listened especially intently to those stories, as he was still curious about what was going on between his older brother and the noble. 

All in all, however, Nori was fairly relaxed. Aiken had apparently gotten turned around somewhere, or had just given up when he had found easier pickings. Ori was safe, Dori was at work and likely safe...there was nothing to worry about. He decided that he would have to be more careful in the future, however, to ensure that no one found out that he was related to Dori and Ori. The last thing he needed was another episode like this, where an associate got angry at him and decided to threaten his brothers. That was part of the reason he left in the first place, after all. 

Just when he was thinking about whether or not he should drop in on Bofur after Theal arrived to take care of Ori, the miner came barreling into the house. 

"You know, either you've been taking lessons from Oin, or you've just got damn good timing," Nori mused, grinning up at Bofur. "I was just about to come and see if you wanted to..." He trailed off when he noticed the look on Bofur's face, the soot on his clothes that showed he'd come straight from the mines without even bothering to change. "What happened?" 

"Bom told me as soon as I got home," Bofur said, panting. He'd run from his house to Dori's as soon as he heard. "He was passing the tea shop on the way home, there was a man in there asking for the brother of Nori." 

Nori paled, looking down at Ori who, after his initial hug and greeting to Bofur, had gone back to his drawing. He saw Bofur a lot, a visit in the middle of the day wasn't that unusual. He was more interested in finishing his picture before Nori left. "Do you know his name?" 

Bofur shook his head. "Bom didn't hear it, he just knows the man was looking for Dori and it looked like he had a knife. He knows I talk to Dori every now and again and ran to tell me." His brother could run faster than any expected him to, something that made Bofur proud most days. Today, he had been more concerned with getting all of the information he could and going to let Nori know. "The guards will probably be called, but they're pretty busy. Someone made a threat on the king's life, so they're all staying with him." 

"Aiken," Nori growled. The man was smart, make a threat to the king and get the guards into a tizzy, so they would be too busy protecting him and leave Aiken more time to get to Dori and then get away. But..."If they're that distracted, they won't notice me." If the guards were so busy protecting Thorin from threats, they wouldn't be able to catch Nori if he went to the tea shop. 

Bofur nodded, hefting his mattock onto his shoulder. He'd carried it with him, figuring he'd need it. He was a miner, and fighting with a mattock might not be conventional, but it would do well enough for him. "Come on, it's not far from here." 

Nori nodded. "We have to wait for Theal," he said, reluctantly. He couldn't leave Ori alone, and there was no way that he was going to take the dwarfling with them when Aiken was targeting his family. "Then we'll make the man regret threatening my family. 


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For some reason, AO3's only showing the story at 12 chapters, when this will be the 14th. I went back over, everything's all there and you can get to the 13th and 14th chapters, so I'm just hoping it's a glitch they work out soon. If the links in the email don't work, just go to the story itself and choose the chapter from the chapter index, or from the end of chapter 12 and hit 'next chapter'.

Nori thought that he would go mad waiting for Theal to arrive. Ordinarily, he wouldn't mind if she was a few minutes late, it wasn't as though he bothered himself with being punctual much of the time, but every second they waited was another second that Aiken could be doing something horrible to Dori. He knew the man, at least by reputation, and there was nothing he would stop at to get what he wanted. Nori was a thief and a liar, he would admit, but he still had principles. He wouldn't steal from the poor, and he tended to draw the line at murdering anything that wasn't asking for it. Aiken didn't have the same qualms, he was already wanted in a few different towns. _N_ _ot that they'll get to try him_ , Nori thought darkly. _Because he_ _is not leaving this mountain._

Theal finally arrived, and he knew that they likely startled her, given that he and Bofur bolted as soon as she was in the door, but Nori didn't care. Every horrid tale he had heard about Aiken was passing through his mind now, picturing Dori in place of the man's other victims. What would happen to Ori if Dori died? Nori might try to take care of him, but he knew that he wouldn't be as good at the stability and reinforcing of rules as Dori was. Even if he disliked them growing up, he knew both were important for a dwarfling like Ori, especially one with so much talent tucked away. When Ori was older, Nori knew that he would be an important dwarf. 

And what would he do without Dori? Dori had been taking care of him for most, if not all, of his life. Nori had resented the mothering, the obsessing about his chosen profession and just general Dori nagging, but he was also used to it. It was part of who Dori was, and even if the dwarf sometimes drove Nori to distraction, he couldn't picture a world where Dori was gone, no longer driving him crazy by chasing him down with scarves and scolding him for being gone for 'too long'. He couldn't imagine a time when Dori wouldn't be around to be a fussy mother hen, and he truly didn't want to. He simply redoubled his efforts to get to the tea shop as quickly as possible. 

Bofur, for his part, was wondering how Nori knew the man at all. He knew the thief had likely annoyed the wrong person, but he wasn't sure if it was that man or if someone had hired him to hurt Nori. Because, whether the other dwarf would admit it or not, the quickest way to hurt him would be to go through Dori or Ori. This man was smart, Bofur would give him that, but he apparently wasn't smart enough to know that threatening Nori's family was a bad idea. 

Nori skidded to a stop, biting back a groan as they reached the marketplace. It was packed with dwarves, as it was the busiest time of the day. Shoving through the crowd would be quick, but it would also attract too much attention. If Aiken found out that he was here, then the man would likely kill Dori then and there. He couldn't let himself be seen until he had a way to get his brother out of the shop. 

Bofur tugged Nori's arm, leading him into the maze of alleys behind the shops. No one used them besides the shop keepers, as they twisted and turned so much that even the brightest dwarrow could become lost, ending up in front of the butcher when they had been searching for the tailor. "Bombur's lass works in one of the shops, the tanner's. She showed him how to get through the alleys, since it's quicker than going through the marketplace sometimes." The tannery was at the very edge of the market, keeping the smell away from the other businesses as much as possible, so Bombur knew his way through the entirety of the alleys. He used that knowledge on market day especially, and had showed Bofur and Bifur as well. Bofur had planned on showing Nori, but there had never been any time, given how quickly the thief tended to leave. 

Nori, for his part, didn't care about how Bofur had come by his knowledge, simply grateful for it as it meant that they would be able to get to the tea shop where Dori worked without making a scene, and more quickly than they would have been able to if they tried to get through the crowds in the market. He did make a note of everything Bofur showed him, though, as it would come in useful another day. Most of his attention was focused on getting to Dori, but he couldn't stop the small part of his mind that focused on anything that would help him in his job or in getting into or out of the mountain. 

Eventually, they got to the back of the tea shop where Dori worked. Instead of going around to the front, which would have the possibility of being caught by Aiken, the two crept through the back. At any other time, Nori would have shook his head over how much tea was back there, but his attention was on the door leading to the front, where he could hear movement. As one, he and Bofur moved forward, opening the door and stepping through to the main room of the tea shop... 

...and then stopped dead in their tracks when they saw Dori. Fussy, mother henning Dori, who was calmly sweeping up the broken ceramics that covered the floor, likely from fleeing customers, and who was completely ignoring Aiken. Aiken, who was laying on the floor, unmoving and presumably unconscious. 

Bofur started laughing and Nori glared at him. "What?" he asked, grinning. "Your brother just handed that man his arse, and we were running to rescue him." He'd known Dori was strong, of course, but it was very easy to forget that when the dwarf spent more time fussing over knitting or tea than he did sparring. 

"What are you both doing here?" Dori asked, having looked up at the sound of Bofur's laughter. "Nori? I wasn't aware you were back in the mountain. Does this," and here he gave the unconscious man a vicious kick in the side, "have something to do with your sudden reappearance?" As soon as the man had asked for the 'brother of Nori', Dori had known that Nori had somehow irritated the man. He hadn't bothered to ask how or why, the man attacked him and he retaliated, but now that things were settled, he would like an explanation. 

Nori, still staring at his brother, began to tell the story from the beginning. It was one thing to joke about your brother being strong and having a punch like solid steel, but joking about it and seeing it are two entirely different things. He suddenly felt a lot better about leaving Dori and Ori alone while he was gone. Dori could clearly handle himself. "So, when Bofur told me that someone was threatening you, we both came to stop him. I know what that man is capable of." 

"Well, he won't be capable of anything for a good while yet," Dori said, shaking his head in something almost like disappointment. "A pity, he could have avoided this if he simply took the higher road. I am, however, rather proud of you Nori." His brother, despite the dissolute path that he now walked, still had his principles. That was all Dori would ask for, aside from Nori's safe return every time he vanished. 

Nori was honestly surprised at that, he hadn't thought Dori would ever be proud of him, and especially not admit to it, once his life turned to thievery. Of course, the surprise didn't last long as Dori said, "Honestly, Bofur, couldn't you have washed before you came with Nori? You are getting dust all over the floor. And Nori, why aren't you wearing a scarf? It gets chilly in the mountain at this time of year." Dori shook his head, as though disappointed with both of them, and Nori and Bofur shared a look. 

"Guess some things never change," Bofur replied, just barely holding in a laugh. It was nice to know that Dori was still himself, regardless of what that display of strength had revealed. 

"You are entirely right," Dori sniffed, walking over to look through one of the shop windows. "You both had best leave. I know that there was a threat on the king's life, but it will not keep Dwalin and the other guards occupied forever, especially once my employer tells them that it was a ruse concocted by this piece of drek here." 

At least one of his theories had been proven, Nori thought. Aiken had been the one responsible for the threats to the king's life. It was a fairly good plan, Nori had to admit, aside from the part where Aiken had assumed that Dori was just a fussy old dwarf and wouldn't be able to defend himself. Nori couldn't really blame him on the last bit, as he had made the same assumption, however unconsciously, and was only confronted with the idiocy of that notion now. 

"Well, what are you standing here for? Move," Dori said, shooing them back towards the back door. "The guards will be here soon enough, and I have no desire to have you arrested because of this simpleton. Go and see Ori, he misses you while you are away. Some of us still have a job to do, after all." 

Before they could protest, Bofur and Nori found themselves shooed out of the shop and back into the alley, looking at each other once the door closed. Neither could stop the laughter, tinged with relief as it was, from escaping as they once more made their way through the alleys. Dori was alive and well, Aiken was in no position to be a threat and would soon be the guard's problem, and everything had turned out surprisingly well. Nori didn't count on that luck holding for long, but he would enjoy it while it lasted. 


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry it's been awhile since I've updated. The story is fully written, I'm just going over the chapters before I post them to make sure there aren't any glaring errors, but RL has been taking up a lot of time recently. I'm going to try to do better at uploading regularly in the coming weeks.

When Nori first heard that the king was gathering an army to go retake Moria, his only thoughts were that, since the guards would mostly be going with the king, he would be able to walk around Ered Luin without fearing that his head would end up on a pike. He didn't even consider joining, he had no desire to go into a battle, especially not to Khazad-Dum and the horrors that awaited. The orcs there had probably multiplied since they first overtook the place, and he wasn't foolish enough to join in something like that. Bofur joked that he would, if the beer was free, but although Bifur signed on to go, Bofur decided to stay home and help Bombur and his wife. 

Nori nearly had a heart attack when he learned that Dori, of all dwarves, had signed up as well.

* * *

"Are you mad?" Nori asked. Ori was at school, Balin had already left after his weekly visit, and so Nori was able to come back. He had stayed at Bofur's, the miner home for the day as the mine had been temporarily closed due to a cave in. While he was there, Bifur had come home and mentioned that he hadn't known that Dori had any skill at fighting. 

Nori had joked that Dori probably knew less about fighting than Ori, and Bifur had said that clearly wasn't true, as Dori had signed up to join King Thror's army on their quest to retake Khazad-Dum. Nori had stared at Bifur uncomprehendingly until it sank in that the dwarf was serious. That was the point where he had run out of the miners' home and back to Dori's, which had led to this. 

"Why do you constantly ask that?" Dori asked crossly, looking up from his mending. "My answer hasn't changed since the last time you asked me. If I wasn't mad then, I doubt that I suddenly had an inexplicable descent into madness now." 

"That would make more sense than this!" Nori snapped. "Signing on to the king's bloody foolish quest, while in full possession of your wits? It's a fool's mission, Dori! You will die, and then what's going to happen to Ori?" _And me_ , he thought, but wouldn't say. If nothing else, Nori was still a very proud dwarf. He wasn't going to admit to Dori that he still relied on him as much as he always had. 

"Ah, Bifur finally told you?" Dori asked, entirely unruffled despite the fact that Nori was standing over him and shouting. "Yes, I agreed to join King Thror in his attempt to take back Khazad-Dum. It is for Ori, he would be able to have a better life there than we can give him here." Dori did his best, and they weren't poor, certainly not like Bofur, Bombur, and Bifur, but things were still tight and Dori was already beginning to worry about how to cover the cost of Ori's apprenticeship fees when the lad was old enough. "Despite the fact that you think I'm too fussy, I _do_ know how to fight. I keep up with my training, and they seemed satisfied with the skill I displayed." 

"I don't _think_ you're anything, I know you're too fussy," Nori grumbled. "Tell them that you changed your mind, that there is no one to watch Ori or whatever you please." 

"I've already told them that I've made arrangements for Ori, it was the first thing that Prince Thorin asked," Dori replied. "I am not entirely irresponsible, Nori." 

"Then who is going to watch him, Dori? You can't ask Theal to watch him, you'll be gone for months." Yes, Theal didn't mind watching him while Dori was working, that was what a babysitter did. He doubted that she would be able to watch him for months while Dori was off on Thror's mad quest, however. He also didn't like the look that Dori was giving him right now, as though he was supposed to be smarter than this. 

"Nori, Dwalin is going to be on the quest with me," Dori said patiently. "So, there is nothing stopping you from staying in Ered Luin and watching Ori while I'm gone. He loves you, and has been upset that you haven't spent more time together." 

Nori gaped at him for several moments before realizing that Dori was completely serious. "You're not...Dori, I don't know how to take care of him!" 

"Theal has already agreed to help you, and as Bombur is staying behind because of his family, he and Bofur will be able to help you," Dori said, packing away his current project and heading towards the kitchen. Ori would be home from school soon, and he always liked a snack when he did get home. "I won't be talked out of this, Nori. I am going to do my part to attempt to make life better for the children. Ori, Bombur's children, and any of the other dwarflings here." There weren't many, their race never multiplied rapidly, but there were some. He wanted them to have good lives, and he thought that this was the way to do so.

* * *

Dori had refused to be talked out of his decision, and so, two months after that conversation, Dori was gone and Nori was handling Ori alone. 

He honestly didn't know how Dori did it. Ori wasn't a badly behaved dwarfling, he was actually remarkably good and easy to entertain, but sitting home and taking care of Ori while worrying about Dori, having no idea what was happening to him, if he was injured or ill...he suddenly had a better picture of what Dori felt every time he disappeared. It wasn't a good feeling, Nori had to admit, the impotent worry. It wasn't as though he could chase after Dori, someone had to stay behind to watch Ori. 

Nori wondered if Dori had ever wanted to just leave Ered Luin and try to find news of him, but hadn't been able to because of Ori. During the months that his brother was gone, Nori vowed that, when he next left, he was going to send Dori letters every time he traveled to a new town, even if they were only letting Dori know that he was alive. Going without news while knowing that his brother was more than likely in danger was torture, and he wasn't going to put Dori through that again. 

A few times, during the months that Dori was away, Nori privately wondered if Dori had done this specifically to drive that part home. Nori knew that Dori wouldn't do something like that, it was too cruel for Dori to condone, but Nori had to admit that it was more effective than another one of Dori's lectures. 

Still, as horrible as it was when Dori was gone, it was almost worse when Dori came home.

* * *

He had left Ori with Theal while he went to the market (since the one and only time he'd made the mistake of shopping with Ori, the lad had whined about most of his food choices, begged for sweets, and then lingered in front of Bifur's closed toy stall long enough that they had almost not made it to the butcher's before closing), and so he was one of the first to hear that the warriors were back. 

He had be one of many to run to the gates of Ered Luin, only to stop dead over how startlingly _few_ dwarves had come back. Only a tenth of the forces that had departed were trickling back through the gates now, led by the elder prince. His golden haired brother was conspicuously absent, as were the king and crown prince. 

Later, he would learn of Thror's fall, of Thrain's disappearance, of the younger prince's death and the end of the battle. At the moment, however, all Nori cared for was Dori. If his brother were one of the fallen, a Burned Dwarf...they would get a ribbon back, and Dori's weapons, instead of Dori himself. 

He saw the princess running to her brother, saw Bifur split off from the rest (and winced at the visible injury that the other dwarf had sustained), Dwalin without his mohawk and Balin aged at least two decades... 

And then, when he had finally been about to admit defeat, to go home and try to find some way to ease Ori into the news, he found Dori. His brother's hair was nearly completely grey now, a sword was strapped to his waist and his flail was in his hand still. His clothes had clearly been patched many times over the past few months, and there were stains on them that Nori thought were blood. Dori would have never allowed anything like that on any of them in the past, but now he wasn't uttering a word of complaint, simply walking behind the other dwarves quietly. 

Nori waited for Dori to say something, anything, to him, but the older dwarf simply followed him home. 

"Dori?" Nori ventured. Dori was never silent, not like this. He was always fussing or scolding, sometimes doing both at once. After months away, Nori had thought that Dori would be starting in on him immediately, and was almost at the point where he would admit that he missed it. 

"Not just yet, Nori," Dori said softly, shaking his head, and Nori nodded after a moment. Someday, Dori would tell him the story of what happened from the moment they left the settlement until the moment they returned. Ori would never know all of it, Nori knew, Dori would want to shield him from as much violence as he possibly could, but Nori would persuade his brother to tell him. 

For now, though, Nori just accepted it, giving his brother the time he needed as he started explaining Ori's latest antics. He wasn't good at caring for people, that had always been Dori's strong suit, but he could do this. Distracting his brother, making him tea, and then bringing Ori home to help him distract Dori. 

Anything else could wait until the memories weren't as painful. Nori doubted, however, that Dori would agree to go on another quest anytime soon. 


	16. Chapter 16

Time passed, as it always does. Dori eventually confided some of what he had seen to Nori, and even the brief snippets had horrified him. He didn't want to consider what Dori was keeping to himself, to keep Nori from worrying about him. By mutual agreement, neither of them told anyone else anything about it, and Nori had agreed whole-heartedly to never breathe a word of Dori's war experiences to Ori. Let the lad grow up thinking that Dori was just a fussy old mother hen, because that was what Dori wanted. The normality, the return of the life that he'd had...it wasn't perfect, but it was what they had and he made the best of it. 

Nori did keep the promise that he had made to himself, sending letters every few months when he was away to let Dori know that he was still alive. For his part, Dori didn't understand why Nori was doing it, but he was grateful for it and too wary of changing Nori's behavior to ask questions. Nori was making it so he worried slightly less, and Dori wasn't going to question it. 

Nori, for his part, remembered precisely how horrible it felt to be alone, without any news from Dori to know if his brother lived or died. He would never make Dori feel like that again if he could help it. 

Not much else had changed with Nori, however. He still left, sometimes for years at a time, and would only return for a few days, perhaps a week, before disappearing once again. He would still bring presents for his brothers each time, and if he couldn't be in Ered Luin for Ori's birthday, he would send a gift to Bofur for Ori. He did send notes letting Dori know that he was alive, although he never revealed his location in case they were intercepted, but he still loved his life as a thief. Not even his elder brother going to war could change that. 

As the years passed, however, both Nori and Dori noticed just how much Ori looked up to Nori.

* * *

"It makes sense, regrettably," Dori said, pursing his lips in disapproval as he kneaded dough for bread. "He only sees you infrequently, and when you are here you give him sweets and presents. It is as though the holidays have come early." 

"Is it my fault that I'm the fun one?" Nori asked, smirking. He was sitting in one of the chairs in the kitchen, the front legs off of the ground as he leaned back. Dori had a private bet with himself that Nori would tip over backwards before the conversation was over. 

"He thinks that your life is fun and games, Nori," Dori retorted, scowling. "He thinks that all of the stories you tell him are true." Ori didn't know the truth about what Nori did, all he knew that his brother traveled and then would come home with the most fantastic tales to tell and toys for Ori to play with. It was enough to impress any dwarfling, Dori had to admit. 

"Hey, I have seen an Oliphaunt before," Nori replied, still smirking. So he would exaggerate the stories sometimes, it made the telling more enjoyable and Ori always loved the stories. "What's the harm in telling him a few innocent stories. It's not like I told him that I'm a thief and that the reason I leave is because Dwalin wants to see me hang." 

"The point, Nori, is that Ori wants to be just like you, and I would honestly prefer if he wasn't," Dori said bluntly. He had been like that since after Azanulbizar, Nori noticed, more blunt than he had been before. Nori wasn't sure if it was an improvement or not. Dori was still polite, of course, but he was also more inclined to speak his mind whenever someone annoyed him. "I want a better life for him, Nori." 

"It's not as though I'm going to teach him to become a thief, Dori," Nori replied, rolling his eyes. "And you can give him slingshots all you want, but someday he's going to need to know how to defend himself properly." Ori's present from Dori this year, among the art supplies and new books that had become standard, was a little slingshot, as the dwarfling had wanted to start weapons training. 

"Mahal willing, he never will," Dori replied, because he never wanted his younger brother to be in a war. If Ori lived his entire life in peace in Ered Luin, never seeing war, then Dori would be perfectly happy. He never wanted Ori to experience the horrors that he had seen. It was too late for him to protect Nori, but he would do everything he could to protect Ori. 

Nori really couldn't find a good argument for that, since he didn't want Ori running off to risk his life in a war anymore than Dori did, so he let the conversation drop for now. He knew he'd never change Dori's mind regardless of what he said.

* * *

"He's trying to keep Ori as a baby," Nori said to Bofur. Once again, he was stretched out on the miner's bed, waiting for Bofur to change after a day spent in the mines. Bombur's family had only grown, and even though he and Bifur did have a toy stall, Bofur still took shifts at the mines more often than not, to help his brother out. "I mean, look at that haircut. Ori outgrew it years ago, but Dori keeps styling it that way and Ori doesn't say anything." 

"Maybe he likes it," Bofur suggested, shrugging. "I used to braid Bom's hair in one long braid down his back, before he started losing a bit on the top." Bombur's beard more than made up for what he was losing on the top of his head, however, so he never minded Bofur's teasing about it. "If the lad hasn't spoke up, then the hair style must not bother him." 

"The point is that he's trying to keep Ori as a child, Bofur. It's like he's afraid of Ori growing up at all," Nori continued, undeterred by Bofur's comment. "It's as though he thinks that if he keeps Ori dressed in knitwear and with that hair style, giving him slingshots and knitting needles...as if he keeps Ori buried in all of those things, it will somehow keep Ori safe." 

"Maybe that's what he wants," Bofur said simply. He wasn't the brightest dwarf, he'd admit, but he had been able to figure this out without much effort. "After what he saw, I can't blame him. Bif's still not always right, keeps a close eye on Bom and me. War changes everyone, Nori. Dori just got even more protective, because he never wants Ori to have to see and do the things that he saw and did. Bifur said the same to me, and to Bombur." 

"I really hate when you're the logical one," Nori grumbled, because that made too much sense to be denied. "I'm still teaching Ori how to use a knife, and to pick a lock. Dori can try to keep him safe his way, and I'll keep him safe my way." 

"I never thought I could persuade you otherwise," Bofur retorted, grinning. Because he knew that Nori did care about his brothers, and if he thought that Ori would be safer knowing a few knife tricks, then no one would be able to stop him from teaching them to the lad. Still, dwelling on that would do nothing to get Nori out of this mood he was in, so Bofur changed the subject. "What's the news on Dori and Balin? Half the settlement is waiting for an announcement from them both." 

"Oh, I don't even know," Nori grumbled, falling back onto his back on the bed with a groan. "Balin is over the house at least once a week, but Dori hasn't said a word about wanting to court him. At this point, I don't know what he wants." He couldn't have missed the fact that Balin was interested in him, Dori wasn't a dim dwarf, but Nori couldn't see why his brother hadn't just given in to the elder son of Fundin by now. It was clear that they would be a good match, Nori didn't understand why Dori still was hesitating over it. 

"Can't help you there," Bofur said, because he knew even less about the matter than Nori did. Dori accepted him as a fact of life, that he would keep coming around because of Nori, but he also wasn't going to just up and confide in Bofur. From what the miner could see, Dori had precious few that he actually did confide in. Nori, perhaps, if the younger dwarf ever stayed in the mountain for longer than a week at a time. Perhaps Balin too, but Bofur doubted that Dori would confide in Balin about a matter that concerned Balin. It would be more than a mite confusing. 

"I don't know what Dori wants, but if he keeps dithering, Ori will be grown and with his own kids by the time that anything happens," Nori grumbled. He never bothered trying his hand at matchmaking, but this was getting ridiculous. This had been going on since Ori was a child, and the lad was nearing his majority now. Something would have to change at some point, or else Nori was going to end up shaking his brother and calling him a fool. "I need an ale to cope with this, let's go," he decided after a moment, rolling out of bed and landing on his feet. 

Bofur could agree with that, he wasn't one to turn down an ale after a long day and spending time with Nori was always enjoyable. He wasn't sure what it was they had, exactly, but it was comfortable and that mattered more than trying to put some sort of label on it. "Come on, I'll buy the first round if you'll sing first. Remind me again why I decided to share a bed with you." 

Nori laughed and followed Bofur out of the door. He would worry about his brother's love life another day, right now he just wanted a drink and a few hours with a friend. 


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the gap between updates! The story is all written, but I like to go back over the chapters before they're posted and fix any mistakes, and I haven't had time for that with work over the past few months. I'm going to try to get as many chapters looked over as I can today, so there might be other chapters posted in the next few days.
> 
> Also, I went back over the previously posted chapters and fixed a few mistakes in the format and word choices.

Time continued on. Nori still left for months or years at a time, dropping in without warning and leaving equally quickly. Ori still idolized him, but thankfully didn't seem inclined to try to copy him. Instead, he had become Balin's apprentice and was already a journeyman scribe. Balin had confided to Dori that Ori had quite a lot of raw talent and that, with time and training, he would likely turn into the best scribe of the Age. Dori had fairly puffed up with pride at that, as had Nori when he had learned of it. They were both protective over their 'brother', but they also would be the first to brag about his accomplishments.

Of course, being a very promising scribe did come with problems at times, ones that even Dori hadn't expected.

* * *

"The library is so...incomplete," Ori complained, trailing after Dori through the market. His brother had promised him a new set of charcoals if he came along, and although that would be wonderful, he still wasn't entirely sure it made up for having to follow Dori through the crowded market. "Master Balin said that Erebor's library had rivaled the elves for size and content."

"Yes, Master Balin would be proud of that, his father is one of those who ensured that it grew into the wonder that it was," Dori said, testing a loaf of bread before paying for it and adding it to Ori's basket. "Mother mentioned that Fundin had a mind like a steel trap, and could find books in that library that the other scribes had forgotten entirely. He had even started on an organizational system, before the Fall, of course." It hadn't been finished, had only barely been started at that point, but it had seemed impressive to Dori when he heard the tale.

"But why isn't our library well-stocked? I know much of our culture comes from remembering the tales, Master Balin said that it was necessary." Balin hadn't exaggerated. Erebor was far from the first kingdom they had lost, after all, and if dwarves had only relied on books to remember their history, they would have been in dire straights. Much of their history was passed along orally, parents to children, teachers to students. It was written down, of course, but the availability of the books was always in question. One of the best books on the history of the Second Age was tucked away in Erebor's library, out of reach of scholars now.

"Many of the tomes in the library were scavenged from the bones of the library that had previously existed in Ered Luin when Erebor's dwarves settled here," Dori replied, sighing and adding tomatoes to his basket after haggling for a fair price. "Others were brought by any who had managed to bring such things with them when they fled the dragon. Lord Dain sent tomes as well, copies of those in the library of his land. Very generous, to my mind. Poor lad lost his family when he was young, fighting at Azanulbizar." Dori remembered them and Dain as well, and seeing the solemn lad taking up the mantle of king, leg still bound and bleeding after the battle, had reinforced Dori's desire to keep Ori far from war.

"I wish there were a way to see Erebor's library," Ori said wistfully, accepting the bunch of greens Dori passed him with a wrinkled nose and a sigh. He hated green food. "Master Balin said that Erebor was a great kingdom before it fell, the jewel of the North."

"Balin is quite likely homesick," Dori said, sighing softly. "Mother used to say the same, however. The Lonely Mountain had been her home and she ever wanted to return to it." He recalled that, when he was younger than Ori, he had made a vow that he would find a way to take his mother back to Erebor. After her death, he had done his best to forget that vow. "Come along, lad. Dawdling will only ensure that we aren't able to make it to get your charcoals before the market closes."

Ori picked up his pace, but didn't stop hounding Dori for any details about Erebor that the older dwarf had gotten from their mother and was able, and willing, to share.

Unnoticed by the brothers, Thorin watched them go. He had been at the fabric seller's stall, buying fabric to have made into a present for his sister's birthday. He had never given much thought to the siblings of Ri, not even after Nori had attempted to rob his family, and Balin as well. Dori was a veteran of Azanulbizar, Thorin remembered, although his youngest brother had been far too young to accompany him.

Thorin finished his business at the fabric stall, tucking his purchase away as he headed back to the forge. Perhaps he would need to call upon the brothers' Ri tonight.

* * *

"You would like for me to join your quest to reclaim Erebor?" Dori asked, offering a scone to Thorin. Said dwarf was rather confused, if he was honest. Ori had been ushered to another room while Dori himself fussed about tea and properly entertaining royalty.

"Yes," Thorin replied, shaking off his confusion. "I overheard you speaking to your brother, about your mother's tales of Erebor. She hadn't exaggerated it's greatness, and it is time that we take back Erebor from the dragon. Oin has read the portents and they say that it is time."

"Oin also read the portents and claimed that Gloin's son would be a daughter," Dori said dryly, sipping his tea. "What would the terms of this venture be? I am rather reticent to join another quest, given how the last ended." Although, given the scale of death around him then, he had actually been one of the lucky ones. He was alive, his family was still alive...that was more than many had been able to say that day, as everyone had lost someone close to them. Dori had only avoided it by leaving both of his brothers safely home in Ered Luin.

"An equal share of the treasure," Thorin said immediately, because that was something that had been on his mind from the first. If the dwarves were brave enough to come with him when most of their kin were turning away, then they should be able to have a share of the rewards. "You will be a noble in Erebor, with funds to allow you an easier life, as well as an easier life for your kin. Balin mentioned that Ori is a promising scribe, and if he were to be involved with a quest such as this one..."

"No," Dori said firmly. "Ori will not be going on this quest, regardless of what I decide. He is just a lad, he doesn't need to worry about dying to reclaim a homeland that he has never seen." Dori had never seen it either, but he had heard his mother speaking of the mountain so often that it occasionally felt as though he had. It was illogical, feeling homesick for a place that he had never been, but he wasn't going to get into that now. "Whether or not I decide to assist you, your highness, you are to leave my brothers alone."

Thorin thought about the request. He needed Dori, the dwarf's strength was legendary, and although having a skilled thief on the quest might be useful, there was no guarantee that they would even be able to find Nori before they needed to leave. Promising not to recruit Ori didn't bother him, the lad was only a little older than his nephews, and if he had his way, they wouldn't be coming either. But Nori...

"I can promise that I will not ask your youngest brother to join the quest," Thorin said slowly. "But, if Nori is caught by the guards, will you permit me to offer him the option of joining the quest rather than facing jail?" He could, and would, do so if necessary, but he didn't want to risk losing Dori by breaking his word. He knew that the dwarf was cautious, and truly Thorin didn't blame him, but his company needed every able bodied dwarf that they could get.

Dori sighed softly at that. "If, and only if, Nori is jailed, then you may make him an offer," he agreed reluctantly, only because he knew how much Nori would loathe prison. "But the choice must be his own, and you cannot ask him to join the quest unless he is jailed." Not that it would matter if Thorin did. If Nori was offered the opportunity to join such an uncertain quest as anything other than a last resort, he would never accept it. "Now, finish your tea, and eat a few of those biscuits, you look too thin."

Bemused, Thorin did as directed, wondering how such a strong dwarf could also be so fussy. Shaking his head, he finished his snack, bowed, and left the Ri residence. He had a few more dwarves to call on before the night was over.

* * *

In his room, Ori sat on the bed, lost in thought as he stared blankly at the wall. Their king was putting together a group to retake Erebor, and Dori was considering joining. Dori had also ensured that the king wasn't able to ask him to join, which caused Ori to scowl. He wasn't a dwarfling anymore, he was of age and already a Journeyman scribe. He wasn't afraid of a dragon, nor of the orcs and wargs that would likely stand between them and the mountain.

A quest like this would also be a good opportunity for him to further his studies, as someone would need to keep a record of the quest. For better or for worse, future generations would want to read about their venture. He wanted to go, and knew that Balin was likely the one to suggest it, but Dori would never change his mind. Thorin wasn't allowed to ask him to join the company...

Ori's expression cleared when he figured out a solution to his problem. Thorin couldn't ask him to join, but Dori hadn't said anything about _Ori_ being forbidden from asking for a contract. The young dwarf smiled as he began to get ready for bed. Tomorrow, he would go and speak to the king himself. He was going to join the company, one way or another.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second chapter I'm posting today. I'm going to try to get a few more out, I want to try to get this story finished today if I can, so if you haven't read chapter 17, make sure you read that first.

When Nori learned that Bofur planned to go on the quest, he was a bit unnerved but not surprised. He knew that Bifur would be going, because Bifur still dreamed of finding the orc that put that axe in his head and returning the favor. He knew that Bofur would go to keep an eye on him, and that Bombur would be going for similar reasons, and so Bofur would want to keep an eye on his brother as well as their cousin. Nori also knew, however much Bofur denied it, that he was going just because he couldn't bear to be left behind again. The money that was offered was nothing to complain about either, Bombur's family would be set for the rest of their lives if they succeeded. 

Nori never expected to find out that Dori was once again debating joining a quest. He blamed that for the lapse in judgement that led to him being caught by Dwalin.

* * *

Nori was lounging in his cell, idly wondering when Dori would come by to scold him, bring him knitwear, and promise to do what he can to get him out. They didn't have enough saved for his fines, so he would be spending a few decades in the cells. He hated that thought, especially since Dori would be running off to fight a dragon and there would be no one left to take care of Ori. He was lost enough in his thoughts that he didn't notice a dwarf approaching his cell, until they spoke.

"Nori, son of Xori?" Thorin questioned, although he knew that Dwalin wouldn't have made a mistake. He had been trying to capture Nori for decades, since his youngest brother was still a babe in arms, and he was satisfied now that he had finally caught the thief.

"Might be. Who wants to know?" Dori would probably box his ears for that, Nori mused. Being deliberately rude to royalty, and when he was already in trouble with the law? Well, it wasn't as though he could get a worse sentence just by mouthing off.

"I am Thorin, son of Thrain," Thorin said, not bothering to add the rest. It was clear that the thief _did_ recognize him and was simply being difficult. "My guard informed me that you will rot in these cells for up to three decades, as your brother has not the funds to pay for your release. Is that correct?" He knew that it was, he had discussed it with Dori already and had heard the guilt in the other dwarf's voice over that, but he needed the confirmation from Nori.

Nori, for his part, shrugged loosely and tried to look as though it was not something he had been dreading. "Heard the food is good and decided to see for myself," he said blithely, and was pleased that his voice came out perfectly unconcerned, keeping any fear he felt about the prospect to himself. That was good, only his brothers needed to know how much he dreaded this, being locked up yes, but having to stay in the same place for _decades_. He loved to travel, to visit new towns or re-visit towns he had been to in the past. Being chained to one place...it was a fate worse than death to Nori.

"Would you be interested in a way to have your record cleared?" Thorin asked, causing Nori to twist and look at the king fully for the first time, shock evident. "If you join us, you will be pardoned for any crimes committed before the quest. If you are caught and tried as a thief after the quest, however, you would face the consequences of those actions." It was a fair deal, in Thorin's opinion, although he wasn't offering it to every prisoner. There was something strangely honorable about this thief, and he had learned all that he could from the lad's brothers as well. Nori could be trusted if he gave his word.

"So, let's see if I have this straight," Nori drawled, standing and moving closer to the bars of his cell. "You want me to sign up for your quest to go against a dragon, and in return you'll get me out of here and get Dwalin off of my tail?" In this case, he wasn't sure what the better option was. Going up against a dragon was crazy, nearly suicide really, but when his only other option was sitting in jail for decades..."Let me look at this contract."

* * *

"Honestly, Nori, how could you be careless enough to be caught by Dwalin?" Dori asked crossly, looking over his contract. He had come to the jail as soon as he heard, arriving when Thorin was passing a copy of the contract to Nori. He immediately asked for his own copy, and settled in a nearby chair to peruse it. "I only told him that he could approach you if you were jailed because I thought that you wouldn't be caught."

Thorin frowned at that. "You sought to trick me?" Then again, he shouldn't be surprised. Dori had clearly known that Nori was in the mountain, but hadn't reported him to Dwalin. He was too loyal to his family to even consider doing such things, so it shouldn't truly be surprising that he would agree to Nori coming on the quest while adding a requirement that was, in Dori's mind, impossible. He was actually rather impressed, all told, given that this was clearly not the first time Nori had been back to the mountain since he fled, but it was the first time he had been caught. The thief would surely be an asset to their quest.

"Of course I did," Dori said, his tone still cross, as though he was irritated with the question. "This is a dangerous quest, why in Mahal's name would I willingly hand over my brothers for you? I know how the last quest turned out, and I am quite unwilling to barter their lives."

"But you were already debating joining," Thorin pointed out, still rather confused. It was fine for him to recruit Dori, but the fussy dwarf would be appalled if he even considered recruiting the other two brothers' Ri? They were all grown dwarves, capable of making their own decisions.

"He's a mother hen," Nori said, before Dori could respond, taking the quill Dori passed him once he finished looking over the contract. "He'll run off to get killed, but won't want us to do the same. Hypocritical, to my mind."

Dori clearly had a response to that, but it was forgotten as Dwalin said, "Well, the youngest one came and requested a contract from me this morning, so he's not taking being left behind too well."

"He did what?" Dori and Nori asked in unison, and for the first time Thorin was able to clearly see how the two were related.

* * *

"Ori, how could you do something like this?" Dori asked, hands on his hips as he looked at the younger dwarf. Once Nori had been released, he and Dori had raced out of the prison and ran straight back to the house. Ori was there, of course, finished with his studies for the day and practicing his runes, but he'd stopped when he saw how serious his brothers were. "Do you understand how dangerous this quest is?"

"Of course I do!" Ori said, scowling as he stood and looked at his brothers. "But I'm not a dwarfling, Dori, I can take care of myself. I want to go on the quest. Fili and Kili are younger than I am and they're going, so you can't say I'm too young. This is a great opportunity, and if Erebor is reclaimed, then I'll be able to write the story of our quest. That could be my Mastery work, Dori. Balin already said that he'll help me with my notes while we're on the quest, and Dwalin said he'd teach me to fight with something other than my slingshot."

"He'll do no such thing," Dori snapped. "If you are going on this quest, then you are going to stay as far away from any violence we encounter as possible. And you will stay well away from the young princes. They managed to get into enough trouble here that I shudder to think what they would manage while we are on the road. But, that is all irrelevant, because you're not going." He wasn't going to let Ori get himself into that kind of danger, it was bad enough that he had to worry about Nori.

"You can't stop me, Dori," Ori said, calmer now, as though he knew he had an unassailable piece of logic on his side. "I'm of age, and I already signed the contract. Master Balin added my name to the list, and it can't be undone without my consent. And I won't consent, if he asks me then I'll tell him that I want to go and I'm not letting either of you stop me. I'm not a little dwarfling anymore, I can make my own choices and I want to go on this quest."

"He's got a point," Nori said reluctantly. If Ori had already signed the contract, there was nothing they could do. He was of age and hadn't been coerced or influenced in any way. In fact, Dori likely had done enough to try to convince Ori _not_ to go and to keep the king from recruiting him. Neither of them had thought to threaten Fundin's sons to keep them from allowing Ori to join the quest. "We can't stop him, not if he's already turned the contract in. He'll be disgraced if he goes back on his word now."

Dori grimaced, but he conceded the point. There was nothing that they could do to stop Ori. If they had caught him before he turned in the contract...but they hadn't, and they would just have to take care that the younger dwarf was always protected. He sighed, heading to the kitchen to start making tea. "We may as well get started, making a list of the things we will need to pack. It wouldn't do to be on the road and realize that we had left behind something of importance."

And that was how, willingly or not, the brothers' Ri joined Thorin's Company.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another new chapter, as before don't forget to read the previous chapters if you haven't already.

Despite Dori's grumbling and Nori's wariness, the quest went rather well so far, in Ori's opinion. Yes, they had nearly been eaten by trolls and had been chased by orcs, but they had gotten away and were now in a relatively safe place to rest before starting their journey over the Misty Mountains. There was too much green food, in Ori's opinion, and the music was nothing that could be danced to, but the library was better than anything he had ever imagined, and he tended to spend most of his days ensconced there, sometimes accompanied by Bilbo when the hobbit wasn't talking to the elves.

At night, however, the dwarves and hobbit would gather on the balcony they had claimed as their own, none of them wanting to be split apart in unfamiliar territory, and talk would inevitably turn to those left behind.

"My little lad," Gloin said, full of paternal pride. "Tried to convince Thorin to take him on. Only sixty, he is, but determined that he's grown enough to take on orcs bare-handed. Fiery little lad, Gimli is." It wasn't the first time that they had heard tales of Gimli, Gloin was very proud of his son and his wife and would take the opportunity to talk about them whenever he could.

Knowing this, and wanting to avoid the inevitable ode to Gloin's wife Nithi that would occur if they didn't change the subject, Fili said, "Bombur, what about your lot? You never talk about them much." Bombur didn't speak much at all, except to his family, but none of them were surprised or off-put by that. Bombur was a quiet dwarf if he didn't know those around him, and it would take time for him to volunteer information, rather than just answer questions about himself and his kin.

"My eldest lass and lads wanted to come," Bombur admitted, chewing meditatively on the sausage that Bofur had tossed him. "But I wouldn't let them. I don't mind risking my life to make things better for them, but I don't want them to do the same. All ten of them were crying that it was unfair when I left, though. Had to check my packs twice, make sure none of them smuggled themselves inside when we weren't looking."

"Ten?" Kili blurted, and his shock was mirrored on the faces of all the dwarves, save the Ri brothers, who had been friends with them since Ori and Bombur's eldest were children. "You've got...ten children?"

"Is that so unusual?" Bilbo asked, confused. "Ten is fairly common in the Shire. My one cousin had fourteen, six lads and eight lasses. She was upset that it wasn't more even, she'd been hoping for seven and seven, but the last set of twins were both girls."

Now everyone was looking at Bilbo, rather than Bombur, to the ginger dwarf's relief. " _Fourteen_ children?" Fili asked, sounding awed. If ten was shocking, fourteen was absolutely unheard of.

"Yes?" Bilbo said, looking around curiously. "Well, it's not very surprising, all hobbits tend to have large families. It's just...the way of things, really."

"So, how many siblings do you have, Bilbo?" Ori asked, curious. He had been working to compile as much knowledge about hobbits in his book as he could, and this was very interesting. He wondered why hobbits reproduced more quickly than dwarves. Was it something to do with where they lived, or was it just something to do with their species?

Bilbo looked down at his furry feet. "I'm an only child," he admitted. "My mother had difficulty carrying me, and they wanted her to wait before trying for another, to make sure she was healed enough. She never complained, and said that having only one faunt meant that she could spoil him rotten, and my dad would laugh and agree. But then the Fell Winter happened...well, suffice to say after that, my mother had no heart for more children."

Kili seemed about to ask what happened, but Fili was faster and clamped a hand over his brother's mouth. In the ensuing silence, Bofur commented, "I remember, our mam could take anything and make a meal fit for kings. You could give her food barely fit for an orc, and she'd find a way to make it taste good. It's where Bombur gets it, probably."

Bombur laughed good-naturedly at that. "Aye, and you take after our da, who could make the freshest meat taste like it had been dead for months. And been set on fire besides." There was a small tussle between the brothers at that, that the other dwarves egged on and Bombur ended up winning, before the subject turned back to tales.

"Mum always sang to us when we were sick, or if we just wanted to hear her sing," Fili remembered, smiling wistfully. "She'd hum while we worked on our craft, and never protested when Kili came to join us, even though his fletching supplies smell awful."

"Can't help that," Kili said, shrugging amiably and grinning. "Remember when she made Uncle dance with her, so we'd learn the steps faster? And when he refused, she just dragged him up and out of his seat anyway?"

"Your mother is a terrifying dwarrowdam," Thorin said, but he couldn't hide the fondness in his eyes. "She was the same when we were children." She had never let him get a big head, but she had also lit into anyone who insulted him. Fiercely loyal to her family, Dis was, and she had hated needing to stay behind. But, someone needed to rule in his stead, and she was the best candidate.

"Our mother used to say that Dwalin was born with an axe in his hand," Balin said, with a small smile. "But I remember a very sorry dwarfling who tried to take one of our mother's weapons when she was busy elsewhere."

"I remember Da punishing you for ruining one of his manuscripts," Dwalin retorted, without looking up from what he was doing, sharpening the blades of his axes. "At least that sword was still in one piece, he had to write that manuscript all over again and explain to the king why it wasn't done on time."

"Nithi was fit to kill Gloin the first time Gimli had his axe," Oin said loudly, smirking at his brother. "O' course, the idiot had given the axe to the lad in the first place, so that's probably why."

"He wanted to see it!" Gloin defended as the others laughed. "I made sure he weren't hurt by it. It's important for the lad to get a feel for a decent axe early on."

"Well, you nearly had a good feel of a sword, because Nithi nearly killed you for that," Oin said, chuckling in remembrance. "Then again, the lad did nearly cut his own foot off, stumbling around with that axe. Much too heavy for him at that stage of life."

"He was fine!" Gloin protested. "I watched him an' I took it as soon as Nithi saw it. An' Gimli's turned out to be skilled with an axe, so there's no harm done." That excuse hadn't saved him from sleeping in their sitting room instead of in bed with his wife, but he had still made the attempt.

"I don't remember my mum," Ori admitted, once the laughter at Gloin had died down. "Dori said that she died having me, but that she was the best weaver in Erebor, before Smaug came. And that even elves had been impressed by her tapestries." Sometimes, Ori did wish he could remember his mother, she sounded incredible from what his brothers had told him, but he had never really felt a loss from not knowing her. Dori had been the only mother Ori had known, but it was more than enough for him. He privately thought that if he did have an actual mother as well as Dori, he would have been smothered since Dori worries enough for ten dwarves, but he kept that to himself.

"If even the twig eaters thought they were something, she must have been a special 'dam," Bofur said kindly, smiling at Ori. He only knew bits and pieces about the lad's mother, whatever Nori had been in the mood to share. Since Nori's sharing moods, especially concerning his mother, were sparse, Bofur really only knew what he'd been able to piece together on his own.

For their part, Nori and Dori had gone very still when Ori started speaking of their mother. The younger dwarves wouldn't think anything of it, but they still worried about the elder dwarves, those who had been alive when Erebor fell and thus would remember their mother. They hadn't said much about what happened to their mother, just that she was dead and thus he was raising Ori, but it had held up thus far. Balin had likely been curious, as had Oin, but they were too well-mannered to just come out and ask about their mother's death.

Now, however, those two older dwarves met each other's eyes. Something was off with that tale. Not about the weaving, they could both acknowledge that Xori had been a fine weaver and had even gotten praise from Thranduil, cold fish that he is, for the gift she had presented to him at the king's behest when trade between the elves and dwarves had still been good. They had both heard of her death, of course, but with how old Ori is...she would have died before the lad was born, unless they were both mistaken. Something about this made no sense.

Balin noticed the tense looks on the two elder brothers' faces first, and he nudged Oin before the old healer could say anything. Regardless of how curious they both were, questioning them would have to wait until they could get Dori and Nori somewhere private. If they had kept this secret for as long as they had, it had to be something important, and that they didn't want their younger brother to know.

Deciding, after a few moments' of furtive hand gestures, to talk to the two younger dwarves tomorrow, Balin and Oin rejoined the conversation, teasing their brothers and laughing with their friends over the stories shared.


	20. Chapter 20

Ori wandered off with Bilbo as soon as they finished breakfast, both intending to go back to the elves' library. None of the other dwarves could see what was so fascinating, even Balin had little interest in an elf's library, but it made the hobbit and one of their younger dwarves happy, so none of the company tried to stop them. Thorin did grumble a bit, but that was so common that Dori didn't even look up from where he was darning socks. He was the best with a needle out of all of them, and so he had taken on the task of mending everyone's clothes as necessary.

Balin watched him, and Nori as well. Neither of them seemed to be doing anything out of the ordinary, Dori darning socks and sniping at Nori, while Nori cleaned his knives and sniped back. Even after the relatively short time that the company had been formed, everyone knew that Dori and Nori argued fairly often, and that getting between the two of them would simply make them transfer their irritation from each other onto the dwarf who bothered them. The exception to this seemed to be Ori, but then again, the lad usually left his brothers to fight and didn't interrupt them.

Once he was finished musing on the relationship between the Ri brothers, Balin met Oin's eyes and nodded. It was a simple plan, he would take Dori off to a private room, and Oin would wait a few moments before following with Nori. Oin had been going through his herbs, looking through what they still had and what he might need to ask the elves about, but he did nod once when he caught Balin's look. Yes, he wanted to have this settled now. He had never been best fond of secrets, at least ones that he wasn't part of.

Balin stood and made his way over to Dori, smiling down at the younger dwarf. "Fancy a walk, Master Dori? Perhaps we will be able to find the kitchens and see if elves can make decent tea."

"I highly doubt they can," Dori sniffed, but he put away his sewing supplies for the moment, brushing himself off as he stood. "After you, Master Balin." Dori hoped that Balin wasn't taking the opportunity to attempt something romantic. He had managed to act completely unaware of such things in Ered Luin, but he wasn't sure that he would be able to do so again.

Therefore, he was entirely surprised when Balin led him to one of the bedrooms they had been given but that none of them had used. He was even more surprised when Nori was brought in with Oin, and from the look on his brother's face, Nori was equally surprised to see Dori there.

"What's this about?" Nori asked, naturally the more suspicious of the two. "You led me here, Balin led Dori here...what's this all about." Because it clearly wasn't about Oin wanting to check Nori over after the chaos of the past few days, nor about Balin wanting to find a good cup of tea for Dori.

"We want the truth, lad," Oin said bluntly, and ignored Balin's nudge. "What? I'm not talking around the point, takes too long." He had no patience for small talk, usually got in the way of his job. There was also the fact that, when dwarves insisted on mumbling instead of speaking plain, his ear trumpet didn't work as well and he'd end up missing something. Better to just skip the small talk and get to the meat of the matter.

"Ori's story about his birth doesn't make sense," Balin said more gently. "I never asked, as it wasn't my place. But I knew your mother, Oin did as well. Xori died at least a year before Ori was born, if I'm any judge." He had heard of the dwarrowdam's death and had grieved, of course, as she had been a skilled weaver and hadn't deserved what had happened to her. But then, so many hadn't deserved their fates, so he hadn't given himself long to mourn before going back to his work. "There is no way that I can see that Ori is Xori's son, unless he is mistaken about his age."

The change that came over the other two dwarves as Balin and Oin spoke was nearly instantaneous. Dori, grace chased away by whatever emotions were roiling through him, had all but collapsed onto the floor, burying his face in his hands. Nori had moved to sit beside his brother, his face hard and cold. "It's none of your business," he said firmly, resting a hand on Dori's shoulder. "You didn't pry before, you shouldn't be prying now. Isn't there something more important for you to be sticking your nose in?"

Oin bristled, but Balin ignored the insult, knowing that it was Nori attempting to get them angry enough that they would storm out, and thus their secret would still be safe. "It matters, as we need to be able to trust each other with our lives if we expect to get through this quest alive. That can't happen if we know that two of our company are keeping secrets from us. What are you hiding, lads? It can't be so dreadful that you would rather us think the worst of you than just come clean now?"

The brothers looked at each other, and after a moment Dori dipped his head in assent. His hands weren't over his face anymore, but he seemed defeated, no hint of the fussy, proud dwarf in evidence now. _Was their secret truly so bad?_ Balin wondered.

"I never wanted kids," Nori said, without preamble. "Not when I was younger, and I'm still not fond of the idea now."

"But he was also young, and foolish," Dori continued, shaking his head and sighing. "He is still very foolish at times, so that should come as no surprise to either of you."

"And you're just as fussy as you ever were," Nori retorted, and it looked like the brothers would have been distracted by their bickering if Balin hadn't cleared his throat pointedly. "Oh alright, keep your shirt on. I forgot my tea when I left home, didn't think about buying it elsewhere. Don't know if any of the towns I was in would've sold it anyway. Doesn't matter, really, since the end result was that I found out that I was pregnant a few years after I left home. No idea who the father was, still don't care. He was just another thief, most likely, and I've never seen him since. He could have been caught or killed by now." He didn't know, and he didn't really care.

"Nori hadn't known that our mother was dead," Dori continued, running a hand over his elaborate braids. "But he knew that I would never turn him away, and I would do my utmost to help him. Taking a few herbs to be rid of the child never occurred to him, of course, but he did consider passing the child off to a couple to raise. The lad would get a good life, and Nori wouldn't be forced to be a father when he clearly wasn't ready to be."

"There wasn't any guarantee another family would treat him right, though," Nori said, knowing that it was a feeble excuse. It had been one when he'd first said it and it still was now, but his glare warned Balin and Oin to not press the issue. "So, we had to keep him. Dori suggested telling everyone that he was our ma's kid."

"Not many knew of the exact time of her death," Dori continued, shaking his head. "And none knew the circumstances. Death in childbed, when she was already older, wouldn't have seemed surprising, and so the lie was fleshed out. Ori was born, and once he was strong enough to travel we left the town we had lived in for most of our lives. They knew us too well, and they knew that Ori is Nori's son, so the lie would have never worked."

"We moved to Ered Luin, and by the time we arrived, we had our lies put together well enough that no one looked twice at the brothers Ri," Nori said, sighing. "'Course, you know what happened, with the thievery and what not. I'd have to leave for a time, pop back in to visit Ori and Dori when I could. I'm fine with a thief's life, I can handle it, but it wouldn't have been a good life for Ori. Dori had always been the more stable one, so he's looked after Ori and I just...chip in where I can."

"Financially, mainly," Dori admitted. "Caring for dwarflings is expensive, after all, especially as it seemed that every few months Ori would need to go to the healer's because he had caught whatever sickness was currently going around the mountain. Over time, it grew easier to handle, and at this point, neither of us think of Ori's true origin much. He is our little brother." The firmness as Dori said the last showed plainly enough that he wouldn't listen to any arguments about the matter.

"And you two are going to keep your traps shut about it," Nori continued. "As far as anyone else is concerned, Ori is a son of Xori, just like Dori and me. No one else can know."

"We don't want Ori thinking that we didn't care about him, or that he was unwanted," Dori admitted. "That was part of the reason behind the deception in the first place."

Balin and Oin had been silent throughout the brothers' story, listening with steadily widening eyes and raised eyebrows. There were several comments they both wanted to make, questions they both had, but the looks on Dori and Nori's faces plainly showed that neither of them would be receptive to answering questions right now.

"I'm a healer, 'course I can keep a secret," Oin grumbled, patting Nori on the shoulder once as he walked out, mind turning over everything that he had learned. Oin was never the best with reassurances, but he tried. He doubted that Nori would've accepted a flowery speech anyway.

"And as far as I'm concerned, my student is still Ori son of Xori," Balin said, noting that both Dori and Nori seemed to be trying very hard to hide their relief. He left them to it, knowing that after an inquisition like that, they would want to be left alone. Despite the fact that he was shocked by what the secret truly was, Balin was grateful that it was nothing worse, and certainly nothing he would feel guilty over keeping from Thorin.


End file.
